Teana's Travels Book 21: Spark Of Hope
by D.K.N
Summary: Mega The Dimensional Defense Force follows their enemy's trail to the distant, shadowed world of There, The Dark Voice and Master Xehanort prepare to unleash a great Darkness upon the Can Teana and her friends stop the Fallen Xel'Naga and the Fallen Keyblade Master from implementing their terrible plans? Rated M for violence and
1. Ulnar

And here's Book 21. Can the heroes defeat the Dark Voice and Xehanort? Also, remember: this is _not_ the last Book in the series. I have Books 22-25 planned, plus a long-overdue rewrite of Book 2.

**THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS VENTURE**

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle! _(Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, _Force Unleashed_ cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo _(Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

_StarCraft _(multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto _(jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu

_Kingdom Hearts _(Keyblades, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, Aqua, other characters and concepts) – Square-Enix

_Neon Genesis Evangelion_ (Mana Kirishima, other characters) – Studio Gainax

_Elfen Lied _(Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

_Red vs. Blue _(The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

_My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic _– Hasbro, Lauren Faust

_Transformers Film Series_** – **Hasbro, Michael Bay

_Transformers: Beast Wars _– Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

_Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon _– Naoko Takeuchi

_Digimon _– Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise

_Yu-Gi-Oh!_ – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media

_Sonic the Hedgehog _- SEGA

_Gears of War _– Epic Games

_Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles _– Columbia Tristar (I think)

_Mass Effect _– Bioware

_Metroid_ - Nintendo

_Puella Magi Madoka Magica _**– **Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

The characters of Golden Tiara and the Alcorn Pantheon – DeviantArtist 'Alex Warlorn'

The character of Checker Monarch – Fanfic author 'Kendell'

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-****_BOOK 21 START_****-**

**Realm SC-29**

**Planet Ulnar**

**16:15 Hours**

Multiple vessels settled in low geosynchronous orbital position, the largest of which was Arbiter Thel Vadam's flagship, the _Divinity_-class supercarrier _Immortal Honor_. People gathered in the _Starshot_'s meeting room, either in person (Holland, Arum, Teana, Shion, Nanoha, Precia, Celestia, and Twilight & Rainbow) or via hologram, having decided that the enemy-controlled planet was probably too dangerous to set up a groundside base.

"Our scans show that the planet is mostly barren rock" Col. Holland said. "There are some Xel'Naga ruins, however; the Dark Voice may be using one such site as a base, though nothing is for certain. We'll need to get a recon satellite network up and running around the planet, maybe start sending in teams here & there."

"Also," Shipmaster/Captain Arum added, "we have received word that a UNSC official has information to reveal to us. They have already come aboard via translocation and will be here momentarily."

In less than a minute, Dr. Halsey arrives, accompanied by John-117 and Kelly-087. Teana nods respectfully in greeting to the woman, who returns the gesture."

"What do you have for us, Doctor?" Nanoha asked.

"A few things" Halsey replied. "First is that the UNSC has recently begun implementing a project that I am… not 100% convinced on, though I don't have enough pull to stop it. They have begun the Spartan-4 program, using volunteers hand-picked from UNSC personnel with sufficiently good CSVs."

"More Spartans?" Teana asked.

"Yes, though they will not receive the in-depth neural enhancements that the previous generations of Spartans did, for cost reasons. …I am concerned about their backgrounds; they may not be able to achieve the professionalism, the combat experience, the close bonds with their fellow Spartans, as the 2s and 3s. However, I was able to provide my official approval _and_ an offering of my services so long as the project leads abide by two conditions of mine."

"And those would be…?" Holland asked.

"First is that MCPO Mendez and the surviving Spartan-2s will devise training regimens for the 4s, periodically taking direct roles in their training to ensure they are up to Spartan standards. And second… Back during the 'glory' days of the Spartan-3 program, Kurt created three elite teams of 3s which he gave advanced training and equipment to, sticking them in specialized top-tier groups – Noble, Spearhead, and Scimitar, creating what I have dubbed Spartan 2.5s. Regrettably, all members – excluding Teana, Noble-7 – of Noble and Spearhead Teams are dead. But the 'core' three members of Scimitar Team still live. They will be folded into the Spartan-4 program, designated as Fireteam Crimson, to provide some needed combat experience to the project and some assistance in training the others."

She looked to Kelly, who nodded and opened the door, saying "Come on in" to someone just outside. Three humans in red Mjolnir Armor, not quite as tall as the 2s but definitely Spartans, walked in. The leader stepped forward.

"Spartan-3 Lieutenant-Commander Bellerophon-B047, team leader, reporting" he said.

"Bellre…" Rainbow Dash's eyes crossed a bit as she struggled with the name.

"Just 'Lero' will do."

"Oh. Alright."

"Warrant Officer Grade 4 Alisa-B296, team marksman and scout, reporting" the second of the trio said with a female voice.

"Warrant Officer Grade 3 Zeke-B147, team heavy-weapons and demo specialist, reporting" the taller male said.

"_How many Spartan-4s are planned?_" the Arbiter's hologram asked.

"150 in the initial batch, planned to be combat-ready within three-to-five months, with 300 more planned over the coming seven years" Dr. Halsey replied.

"450 Spartans…" Shion murmured.

"While they'll likely never equal the 2s or the 2.5s, they'll almost certainly exceed ODSTs and the standard S-3s in terms of effectiveness" Halsey said. "If I'm going to have to do this, I'm going to make sure it's done right – that Spartans remain something that can inspire hope in their friends and terror in their foes."

"We and Crimson will make sure they're up to snuff" the Master Chief said.

"Now then," Halsey continued, "there is one other matter that our intelligence agents have recently discovered. Arbiter Vadam, you'll want to hear this. It concerns the Sangheili terrorist Parg Vol."

"_Have you discovered his whereabouts?_" the Arbiter asked.

"No, but we _have_ discovered the identity of his superior, the true leader of this anti-human splinter faction we've been hearing about: a Sangheili _Kaidon_ named Jul Mdama."

The Arbiter frowned. "_Mdama? He was always one of the more vocal human-haters. But we believed him perished when the Parasite took _High Charity_. You say he still lives?_"

"Yes, and he's leading a massive force of like-minded Sangheili and followers from a Covenant colony world called Hesduros and its surrounding systems."

"_One of our Outer Colonies near the edge of Old Covenant space; that cluster of systems has been out of contact for nearly two years now. We assumed them lost. If Mdama has convinced the people there, who likely have no idea of the truths behind the Prophets or the Halos, to follow him in his anti-human crusade…_"

"He also preaches hostility against you and those who follow you, Arbiter. Though it seems he is smart enough to know a direct action against you is suicide due to numbers, so he's 'playing it safe' for the moment. We believe he is searching for something, likely Forerunner-related, to use against humanity and those allied with us."

"_He could become a serious problem in the years to come. I'll have my people keep a look out for anything that might link to him or his followers, and I'll increase security at and around what Forerunner installations we have in our territory._"

"Anything else, ma'am?" Teana asked.

"Nothing majorly important to the DDF as a whole," Dr. Halsey replied, "but… I have been studying and, as of recently, training in Midchildan-style magic."

She held out her hand, and a small deep-blue Midchildan rune-circle forms in front of it. Nanoha and Teana's eyes widen a little.

"I'll never be able to challenge either of you," the old doctor said, "and my… advanced age means my energy reserves aren't as large as they could be, but the Midchildan system's underlying focus on mathematics made it fairly easy for me to get a solid grasp of. I don't intend to go rushing off into battle or anything of the sort, but now I can at least defend myself, and maybe experiment to try and figure out new things to do with this."

"How long have you been studying it?" Nanoha asked.

"Since Teana first came to Reach" Halsey replied. "Cross Mirage gave me the data I needed to start, and I worked from there when I had the time."

"_Sirs,_" one of the bridge technicians contacts the meeting room, "_there's a pretty big dead zone in our scans of Ulnar, and it's blatantly artificial. Something's disrupting orbital scans in a 1,000-square-kilometer region of the planet._"

"Well, we know where to look now" Col. Holland replied. "Don't send anyone in just yet; we should get settled first, and wait for a few in-transit heavy hitters to arrive. I want a few cloaked satellites visually monitoring that zone and the surrounding areas."

"_Yes, sir. We'll get the sats deployed ASAP._"

"I almost wish I still had the _Solaria_ right now…" Celestia thought aloud.

"The what?" Teana and Twilight asked.

"Oh dear, I said that out loud? …About 110 millennia ago, we – that is to say the Alicorns – came across a fleet of 19 large and advanced warships, dormant in a dimensional pocket. We each claimed one as our own; mine is called the _Solaria_, Cadence's is the _Harmonia_. When Cadence and I fled to within The Veil, we brought them with us; they're both in a subspace pocket anchored to a point above Equestria. Luna's, the _Crescent Shade_, was left behind when she was sent, de-aged, to Equestria; I don't know what happened to it.

"The _Solaria_ and _Harmonia_ have been in storage for a while – Cadence's ship for 16 years, mine for 3,000. But recently, when we made contact with the other coalition and learned about the Reapers, I began taking both ships out of mothballs; mine should be combat-ready in about two months, and Cadence's in two weeks. Hopefully they'll help us out a little."

"What are their specifications?" Shipmaster Arum asked.

"All 19 ships are of the same class – sister ships, as it were. They are 6,000 meters long, armed with various advanced projectile and directed-energy weapons. From what I can tell thanks to information from The Ark, they were originally dreadnaughts of the ancient space-faring human civilization from the universe that the UNSC calls home, the ones who ran into - and thus were attacked by - the Forerunners due to being chased out of their own territory by the Flood."

"Wait, what?" Twilight said. "I haven't gotten to that part of the data yet."

"Apparently, the ancient humans of that time were attacked by the Flood, which pushed them further into the galaxy, out of their own territory. They ended up having to forcibly take Forerunner territory to find a place to put all their people and avoid the Flood. Unfortunately, the Forerunners won the ensuing conflict. They demilitarized the humans and forcibly de-evolved them. …And then the Flood showed up in the humans' wake, and the Forerunners, finally understanding what had really happened, realized the magnitude of their horrible mistakes, but it was too late to undo what had been done. Weakened by their misguided conflict with humanity, and by internecine conflicts, the Forerunners were defeated and rendered extinct. …If they had just stopped to _ask_ the humans what they were doing and why, the two races could've helped each other. They might have _beaten_ the Flood… But instead they shot first and asked questions later, and that spelled the end of two great advanced civilizations: the humans', and their own."

"From what we can gather," Cortana said from within the Chief's armor, "the Forerunners were major imperialists. They _could_ have asked; they probably just didn't _want_ to. …Well, actually some of the castes, especially the Lifeworkers, thought the whole thing was stupid from the start, but they didn't have the power to stop the Leadership and Warrior Castes from going ahead with it."

"19 Forerunner-era heavy warships…" Col. Holland murmured. "It's a damn shame the rest of the family isn't on good terms with you, ma'am; we could really use that kind of firepower."

"Well, we _have_ begun construction on a second _Infinity_-class dreadnaught" Halsey said. "It should be complete by late 2556 or early 2557 thanks to all the other coalition members pitching in to help speed up the process. And the Sangheili Alliance has three more _Divinity_-class supercarriers in varying stages of construction; the earliest is due to be completed in mid-2555. Not to mention the _Saint's Cradle_; the TSAB should have its repairs and overhaul complete within four months, actually. They're talking about renaming it the _Olivie_, after a central figure of their religion."

"_Sankt-Kaiser_ Olivie Segbrecht" Precia replied. "She was the woman who brought an end to the Warring States era, centuries of constant bloodshed between different Belkan factions. She near single-handedly got everyone to lay down their arms and go their separate ways peacefully; the group she led settled on Midchilda and evolved into the TSAB. All Belkan rulers were called 'Saint-King' or 'Saint-Queen', but she was actually canonized for her actions; she's even seen as an angel or an avatar of God's will by some of those who worship her."

"Colonel, Captain, the heavies have just arrived in the translocation room" Cortana said.

"Very good" Arum replied. "Let us go meet them."

-_Break_-

The group, minus the Spartans & Halsey but plus the rest of Gamma Team, headed into the slipspace translocation portal chamber. There they found several new arrivals waiting for them: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Hinata, Tsunade, Killer Bee, Goku, Vegeta, and two people – a short man and a tall alien – whom Teana recognized (thanks to Marie) as Krillin and Piccolo.

"We're really not taking any chances here, are we?" Teana thought aloud.

"Whatever the Dark Voice throws at us," Goku said, "we'll be ready."

"Yeah, those Hybrid things won't stand a chance!" Naruto chimes in.

"Don't be _too_ cocky, kid" Krillin said. "You never know what they might throw at us. …All the same, yeah, I have a feeling this is gonna be cool."

"_Sirs,_" one of the bridge technicians said over the intercom, "_the _Iacon_ just showed up, Maximals and Autobots on-board. Also, we've received a communiqué that Team Sora will be showing up in 40 minutes._"

"Good" Holland replied. "I have a feeling we'll need all the Keyblades we can get for this op."

"_The _Vladivostok_ has begun deploying sensor drones to orbit the planet, and the _Normandy-2_ is requesting permission to dock with us._"

"Permission granted" Shipmaster Arum replied.

As people began to file out, Vegeta called out.

"Teana" he said. "Could you come with me? There is something I need to discuss with you."

Teana felt a bit nervous, but since the Saiyan Prince didn't sound angry or irritated or anything like that, she figured she'd be okay. She followed him as he led her into a small adjacent lounge, sitting at the central table.

"Teana…" he said, hands folded, "I've been doing some research. Have you ever… felt an enjoyment of battle? Any type of battle, from a serious war to a friendly spar? A love of fighting and testing yourself that feels like it's a central part of you?"

"…A lot of the time, yeah" the redhead answered. "I don't really know where it comes from."

"And have you ever noticed, after recovering from serious injury, if your power level feels even just a smidge higher?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I have noticed that a couple times. I always figured it was like how a broken bone or torn muscle rebuilds itself a little stronger. Where are you going with this?"

"…Did you know that I actually am the second of three brothers? I had an older and a younger brother. The younger one was… less adept than I, and our father sent him to watch over a minor planet on the edge of Saiyan Space. I haven't heard from him since our world's destruction, but that concerns me little as it is unlikely Frieza cared enough to go out of his way to hunt him down, so little a threat he was. My elder brother, however… He and I were actually fairly close growing up. One day, though, he went out on a mission… and never came back. He was declared Missing In Action, Presumed Dead; there was a funeral held and everything. After the loss of our world, I wondered if perhaps he stumbled upon Frieza's true goals, and Frieza killed him for it, or if something hit his ship and knocked it into a black hole.

"His name… was Tarlis."

After a few seconds, Teana's eyes go wide as can be. "That…" she whispered out. "That was my…"

"Looking at your genetic code proved it. Teana… You are my brother's daughter. You are my niece. …You are half-Saiyan."

**-****_CHAPTER END_****-**

Next Time: the fighting actually starts.

For those worrying about Teana's newly-revealed heritage making her even more overpowered, don't. For one thing, she's still more comfortable drawing on the genetic gifts of her mother's side. For another, the Super Saiyan transformation requires, among other things, the right emotional trigger – the combination of the despair of a loved one's loss and overwhelming rage at the person responsible. I do not plan to have Teana encounter this perfect combination any time soon; as far as I have planned, there will be no Super Saiyan Teana; she's technically capable of it, but she just won't encounter the required trigger.


	2. Shadows

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Planet Ulnar**

**Day 2 – 09:35 Hours**

The revelation of Teana's paternal heritage left a lot of people shocked, especially Teana herself (though Marie was a close second). Though really, Teana was surprised less by the fact she was half-Saiyan or that she was technically a princess (of a long-obliterated kingdom with a survivor count that could be counted on one hand, so in her view it didn't mean anything anyway) than by the fact she had two more living relatives, a paternal uncle and little cousin. …Though unbeknownst to her, Hayate was already coming up with ways to bribe or blackmail Teana into wearing some fancy, poofy princess-dresses and have photos taken to share around, and was planning on convincing Sarah, Nanoha, and Rarity to help. Poor Teana had no idea what was she was in for…

At the moment, however, a few groups had been sent down to the planet's surface. Gamma Team and the Maximals were scouting an area along the edge of the radar dead-zone, while the Autobots and Fireteam Crimson were a ways away, investigating a neighboring grid. Everything seemed to be quiet, the barren rocky world showing very little signs of life (an insect here, a lizard-analogue there…). There had been sightings of a few Heartless further in the zone, on the edge of visual range, but they always fell back rather than come in close and attack, choosing simply to observe from a distance.

"Does anyone hear that?" Ahsoka said suddenly. "Sounds like… buzzing."

"Yeah, I hear it too" Cheetor replied. "It's like a huge insect."

Before long, the culprit flew out from behind a rock formation: a giant wasp, one that was quickly recognized. The Maximals pointed their guns.

"Wait!" the 'bug' pleaded. "Don't shoot Wazzpinator! Not enemy anymore!"

"How are you even here, Waspinator?" Optimus asked.

"Well, Dark Voice want Predacon to sic on Maximals, so he reach through reality and pull Wazzpinator here. But… Dark Voice not do his homework~…"

"Ahhh, right…" Marie smiled, pulling up her Omnitool. "What happened in the last episode…"

The holoscreen popped up, showing an angry Waspinator facing a flummoxed Quickstrike and Inferno.

"_I said NO! Dragon-Bot command _you_, Sub-Commander Kiss-Butt! Dragon-Bot not command Wazzpinator! Not anymore! Wazzpinator sick of being evil, sick of being Predacon, and _especially_ sick of being BLOWN TO SCRAP ALL THE TIME!-! So, Wazzpinator quit Predacons! As of now! Which means Ant-Bot and Two-Head can just pucker their mandibles, and plant biiig, wet juicy ones right here on Wazzpinator's big… FAT… _STRIPEY_…_"

The video cut off. "So yeah" Marie said. "That happened."

The ex-Predacon nodded. Then he spoke:

"Wazzpinator, Maximize!"

With shifting parts he assumed his robot form. He took a few steps forward, facing Optimus Primal, and stood at attention & saluted. Optimus stared, bemused, and then he pulled the other Maximals into a huddle. For several seconds their whispering could be heard but not discerned, with Waspinator standing by nervously. Finally, they broke the huddle.

"Well…" Optimus said. "What are you standing around for, Waspinator? We've got a patrol to finish, soldier."

Waspinator grinned. "Yes, sir!" he replied.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Day 2 – 10:24 Hours**

The sounds of heavy gunfire rang out amongst the rocks as the Autobots and Fireteam Crimson had their first experience with the Dark Voice-controlled Zerg. The glowing-red-eyed vicious aliens attacked alongside Demons and Unversed, throwing themselves at the Cybertronians and Spartans. However, just as the Autobots were starting to get pushed back by weight of enemy numbers, Gamma Team came charging in, adding their firepower to the fray and turning the tide. The enemy's numbers began to fall as the seven girls added their techniques to the cause, cutting them down by the dozen.

Suddenly, however, a new threat emerged in a flash of blue light that drew everyone's attention: a massive, monstrous being around Optimus Prime's height, hovering a meter or so off the ground. It had chitinous deep-blue armor plating covering much of its body, a mouth-less face and glowing blue eyes beneath a similarly glowing large head-crest, with four glowing tendrils extending from its upper back. Its fingers and toes were tipped with large black claws, and a wavering aura of energy surrounded its body. Upon its arrival, Ahsoka reeled as if physically struck by its mere presence, so potent and foul it was. The girls of Gamma immediately recognized it.

"Oh, shit!" Teana shouted, fear tinting her voice. "It's a Hybrid!"

The Autobots opened fire, but powerful psionic energy shields protected the creature and were only worn down to around half-strength by the barrage. The Hybrid unleashed an all-directions pulse of energy that staggered the closer Autobots, and it then fired a wave of crackling blue psionic power at Warpath and Ironhide, who threw themselves out of the way just in time. Shion cast Void Prison on it, holding it in place for a few seconds as Teana incanted and cast _Flagrantia Rubicans_, the enchanted flames burning through the Hybrid's weakened shields and enabling the Autobots to start doing damage. The Void Prison wore off, and the monster psionically shrieked in rage. It launched an explosive energy ball at Shion, who calmly Void-Jumped out of the way, as the Autobots continued pouring fire into its unshielded and increasingly-damaged body. Finally, Jetfire ran up, dodging a desperate psionic blast and decapitating the Hybrid with a swing of his axe. The body lost all glow and toppled to the ground, and Optimus then blasted the severed head several times just to be on the safe side.

"That was a surprising challenge" Optimus said. "If the Dark Voice already has Hybrids ready to be fielded, our stay on this world may be a little more difficult than anticipated."

Everyone walked over to examine the headless body of the Hybrid, examining it; Ratchet brougyht out a scanner, starting a detailed scan of the monster's structure. Suddenly, Optimus felt a great weight slam into him from behind, knocking him over. He rolled over onto his back just in time to catch a downward claw stab aimed at his face. Everyone turned in surprise to see Optimus trying to wrestle back another Hybrid, this one with a dark-purple color scheme, light-blue veins of energy running along its body, and Zerg-like mandibles flanking a mouth full of huge fangs. The Reaver-class Hybrid knocked Optimus' gun away, and raised its claws to strike him…

…And then a fusion cannon shot hit the monster from behind, stunning it. Two more shots followed, downing its shields and wounding it. Prime's rescuer ran up, grabbing hold of the Hybrid and throwing it to the side, firing several more blasts from his arm-mounted fusion cannon into the monster's head, killing it. Purple optics looked at Prime with a calm yet angry expression as the newcomer helped Prime to his feet.

"These beasts were sent to attack Cybertron" Megatron said. "A force of 'Darklings' led by a trio of Hybrids attacked our home! We fought them off with minimal casualties, but the fact remains that they committed an act of war against us!"

Starscream flew in from above, joined by an F-18 that transformed into his loyal subordinate Skywarp.

"We pursued them to this location" Starscream said. "We have gathered the whole story regarding the Fallen Xel'Naga and his actions & plans."

"As soon as my repairs were complete," Megatron said, gesturing to his fully-repaired body which was now in the configuration from before the wounds dealt at Egypt, "I gathered a small team and traced them here. The DDF's leaders explained the situation further, and accepted our offer of help. We will assist you in dealing with these beasts, Prime. _Nobody_ assaults Cybertron and gets away with it, not even a fallen precursor with delusions of godhood."

"I never thought I'd say this," Optimus said, "but I'm glad to have you aboard, Megatron. Your firepower and strategic skills will likely come in quite handy for this campaign."

"I'd say everything that's happened today confirms that this dead zone is the area we're looking for" Ironhide said. "Now we just need to find away to take out whatever's jamming our long-range scanners in this sector."

"Cortana and EDI are looking into that" Teana said. "Hopefully, they'll come up with something soon. For now, let's head back up to the ships. My uncle wants to teach me a few things…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Day 2 – 15:57 Hours**

The seven people of Team Puellae were performing recon a few klicks inside the dead-zone. There hadn't been any other activity since the fights that the Autobots and Gamma Team got into earlier in the day, so this was mostly just a scouting run. Madoka was in the lead, having recently received some intensive Keyblade training from Aqua in Evangeline McDowell's temporally-displaced 'resort' (Mahora Academy being one of the places with a translocation link to the _Starshot_'s slipspace translocation chamber).

"This place feels a l-little creepier than Belka…" Miyako said.

"Yeah…" Sayaka agreed, unconsciously drifting closer to Kyōsuke. "It has a sort of 'graveyard' feel to it. It's so quiet, and there are hardly any living things around."

"I've always enjoyed the quiet," Homura said, "but this is a different sort of quiet than I'm used to. It almost feels like death itself is stalking us."

"Don't be so dour, Homuhomu" Mami replied. "It's not _that_ bad. It could be worse; we could be having to fight through packs of hungry local predators or slogging through hellish weather conditions. The climate's actually rather pleasant here, if a bit on the chilly side, and the largest local animal I've seen so far was a rodent-looking thing around eight inches long."

"Yeah, chill out for a bit, Homu" Kyōko said. "This is the easy part."

"Are you so certain of that, _Puella Magi_?"

The sudden male voice made the girls (and one boy) stop walking and immediately start looking around. Madoka spotted and pointed out a black-robed figure lounging atop a rock formation to the right. The hood was pulled down, revealing a familiar high-ranking enemy.

"One should never be too confident when exploring hostile territory" Xemnas said. "An excess of bravado can cause recklessness, which can in turn lead to defeat."

"Did you just come here to talk?" Kyōsuke asked, pointing his blaster gauntlet at the 'man'.

"I came to dispose of you seven, but not directly. No, I have something a little different in store."

He snapped his fingers, and _hundreds_ of black-cloaked figures appeared, their faces hidden by their hoods as they stood in place before Team Madoka.

"The beings called Incubators sought out girls with strong magical potential and strong wills" Xemnas said. "Due to their unique nature, those who became Heartless became a special type called 'Witches'. But when a strong-willed person's Heart is consumed by Darkness…"

He smirked as the cloaked figures all tossed aside their black cloaks, which instantly dispersed into Darkness…

"…something else is left behind."

…to reveal that they were all human girls around 12 to 15 years of apparent age. Their expressions were blank, their unfeeling eyes focused on the shocked seven.

"T-They're…" Sayaka whispered. "They're the… the Nobodies of _Puellae_ who became Witches…"

Xemnas chuckled softly. "Kill them" he said, and then vanished through a Dark Gateway.

As one, the horde of _Puella_ Nobodies charged, many of them launching magical attacks at Team Madoka as they closed in. Homura made the first move, quickly drawing from her subspace pocket the Promethean Incineration Cannon she'd been given (four had been acquired from the facility on Al-Hazred, and she was one of two people to be given one 'for keeps' while the other two were kept for study and only given out on special requisition). She fired, and the resulting cluster-blast actually killed three of the tightly-packed charging Nobodies, who didn't react in time to dodge. Homura then stowed the weapon as the horde closed in, withdrawing a Sangheili plasma sword instead.

What Xemnas had failed to realize was that, even before the DDF's trainings, Team Madoka's _Puellae_ were above-average in terms of power and skill. And now that they'd had said advanced training, the gap was considerably wider. The first big sign that this wouldn't go quite as Xemnas planned was when Mami summoned a few dozen of her new multi-shot magic muskets and fired a withering barrage. Each individual bolt didn't do too much, but a several-second wave of dozens them cut down a pretty good number of the advancing Nobodies. Grenades launched by Kyōsuke's gauntlet took out a few more, as did strikes from Sayaka's swords, Kyōko's spear, and Miyako's hammer.

Madoka unleashed a wave of _Sagitta Lumis_ pink arrow-blasts of magic that took out a handful of _Puella_ Nobodies and harmed a fair bit more, and followed by gripping her Keyblade and leaping into the fray. Homura used her plasma sword and an M6E pistol to great effect, supplementing with occasional well-placed Fire-type _Sagitta Magica_. Kyōko charged her spear with Lightning-type chakra, which meshed well when Sayaka started throwing out Water-type jutsu. Blades and spears of ice formed on and around Miyako's body, combining with freezing blasts and her hammer to slash, freeze, and shatter many Nobodies. Mami used a few of her new Earth Release jutsu to take out some Nobodies and destabilize the footing of others so she could blast them.

There was a burst of power as Homura activated the initial stage of _Magia Erebea_, and then charged into the thick of the _Puella_ Nobodies and started wreaking havoc. Madoka's Keyblade hacked and slashed and fired magic bursts, her 'kill' count climbing as well. Then Madoka flew backwards and up, charging a large mass of pink magical energy at the tip of her Keyblade. Several seconds later, she fired the technique that Takamachi-_senpai_ had taught her a few days ago:

"Divine Buster!"

The wave of destructive magical energy cut through the horde, destroying nearly two-dozen of them. Homura, meanwhile, absorbed an _Incendium Gehennae_, taking her dark fiery _Erebea_ form and continuing to crush all resistance. Miyako formed a large wall of ice to block a barrage of enemy magic bolts, and then Kyōko & Sayaka sliced it into pieces, but it stayed in place… until Kyōsuke punched it, sending a wave of jagged chunks of ice rocketing into the enemy ranks, wounding many of them. Mami fired a _Tiro Finalé_ shot that tore five Nobodies apart, and then smashed two more by swinging the massive conjured cannon at them.

Faced with seven powerful mages, it didn't take much longer before the last _Puella _Nobody fell, torn apart into wispy Darkness particles by a _Sagitta Lumis_ strike from Madoka. Everyone stopped to catch their breath.

"I guess Xemnas underestimated us" Kyōko said. "I mean, sure, that was no cakewalk, but we came out okay and they didn't."

"…Hey, I just thought of something" Kyōsuke said. "If those were the Nobodies of _Puellae Magi_ who became Witch-Heartless, and… well, you remember what happened with Xehanort and Lea, what happened when _their_ Heartless and Nobodies were both destroyed…"

Expressions of shocked realization formed on the group's faces.

"All those lost _Puella Magi _are…" Madoka whispered, eyes wide "going to come back…"

Sayaka grinned. "Oh man, our ranks are gonna seriously swell if we can find even some of them."

"Let's get to Command and tell them to keep eyes out back on our Earth" Mami said. "If things go right, our number of combat mages might soon be getting a whole lot bigger."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Day 3 – 04:45 Hours**

It was a quiet and serious group that found themselves inside the 'dead zone'. Through land-based recon probes, the source of the sensor jamming had finally been identified, and this team had been dispatched to neutralize it. Sunset Shimmer, Justicar Samara, Kal'Reegar, and the four core members of Delta Squad made up the team. The reason for the quiet seriousness was two-fold: one, it was still dark out, and this was sort of a stealth op, and two, the potential identity of the person responsible for guarding the jammer had Sunset laser-focused on the objective.

Soon, walking through a field of boulders strewn about, they came across a large depression in the earth, at the bottom of which was a car-sized device of Xel'Naga origin.

"Scanners confirm it" Reegar said. "That's the sensor jammer, all right. So how do we wreck it?"

"A big enough blast oughtta do it" Baird replied. "Just gimme a few minutes to whip up an extra-strength charge, and…"

"Well, well" a man's voice called out. "Trespassers? How bold of you, Shimmer."

Everyone drew their weapons and turned to look as Damien Vox strolled closer. Sunset snarled as she tightened her grip on her M2 Lancer. "So the suppositions by intel were right" she said. "You're the one guarding the jammer."

"Indeed. And to help me fulfill that purpose, the Dark Voice has given me a slight boost to my power level. Now, I'll be able to finish what I started eight years ago. You won't have to pine for your fallen friends for much longer, Sunset; you'll be meeting them again in a few moments."

"Not if we have anything to say about it" Samara replied, a blue aura of Biotic power radiating from her.

"Damn right" Cole said. "We ain't goin' down that easy!"

"This is it, Vox" Sunset said. "It finally ends here, one way or another. At long last, I'm sending you to Hell!"

Vox smirked. "By all means, try."

He snapped his fingers, and a 'small' horde of Heartless and Unversed spawned in.

"You two handle Vox" Marcus said to Sunset and Samara. "We'll keep the small fry off your backs."

Sunset and Samara nodded in thanks, and then charged at Vox, Sunset's magical aura flaring teal as she closed in on her nemesis. Vox's own pitch-black aura flared to life as he fired a wave of Darkness bolts at the two of them, but a Biotic Barrier from Samara stopped the blasts cold. Sunset returned fire with a barrage of Fire-type _Sagitta Magica_, the magical flame bolts crashing against and weakening a Dark Shield spell that Vox quickly cast… a shield that was then shattered by Samara's Biotic Punch. Sunset's own magic-strengthened punch was next, sending Vox skidding back and nearly breaking his arm when he blocked it. He growled and rushed at her, forming a dark spear in his hands and thrusting it at her. She sidestepped to dodge the stab, and when he tried to swing the blade at her she blocked it with the chainsaw of her Lancer, sparks flying as she revved the weapon and pushed back against him.

A Warp thrown by Samara forced Vox to back off from Sunset to avoid it, shadow-teleporting back several meters and firing two large blasts of Darkness at the two of them. Sunset teleported out of the way, while Samara struck her incoming blast with a Warp that destabilized and prematurely detonated it. Sunset teleported again, reappearing right in front of Vox and lashing out with a magic-infused kick that sent him hurtling back. He landed on his feet, and charged at her with fists shrouded in Darkness power. They met in the middle in a rapid exchange of blows; after a few seconds, they started teleporting around while still fighting.

Meanwhile, Delta Squad and Kel'Reegar were doing pretty well. Hordes of Darklings were being cut down by the assault rifles and shotguns wielded by the five, who had yet to face any serious challenges amongst them. Baird used his Omnitool to send out a Combat Drone which began zapping the smaller enemies, while Dom launched an Incinerate attack from his that took out a pair of Scrappers. Cole and Marcus used their Lancers, and Kal his Scimitar shotgun, to further thin the enemy's numbers. Kal fired a Carnage shot that took out a Bruiser, while Cole threw a frag grenade that cleared out a pack of Floods.

The fight between Sunset and Vox continued, the two of them teleporting around and throwing attacks at each other. Both of them were starting to be worn down from minor wounds and light exhaustion. Vox leapt away from a fire attack by Sunset, only to be slammed into from the side by Samara's newest technique (courtesy of Shepard's teachings), a Biotic Charge that smashed him away and wounded him. Sunset pounced, landing powerful blows on him and screaming out as she did:

"EIGHT! FUCKING! YEARS! YOU! SON OF A! BITCH!"

She finished with a powerful kick that broke a few of his ribs, sending him tumbling. As the last of the Darklings fell to Delta Squad and Kal'Reegar, Vox vanished through a Dark Portal… and a few seconds later, a much larger Dark Portal formed in the air and spat out a large energy-shielded VTOL gunship, with Vox at the helm.

"You didn't think I was ready for this, bitch?" he shouted over the craft's loudspeakers. "You were right, Shimmer; one of us dies here today. Prepare to meet your doom!"

The dropship's chin-mounted heavy machineguns spun up, preparing to fire. Suddenly, its shields flickered and died as Baird used his Omnitool to hack and disable them. Then, a rocket fired by the team's resident Quarian impacted the ship's main engine, and the craft began to spin and plummet in flames.

"Meet that, ya bastard" Kal'Reegar quipped.

The gunship crashed to the ground, fire spewing out of various holes at it came apart. Sunset started walking over toward it. As she approached, Vox crawled out over a pool of spilled fuel, dragging his broken legs behind him. He looked up as she got close, a look of panic forming on his face.

"S-Shimmer, uh… L-Let's talk about thi-"

"Burn."

Sunset snapped her fingers, and flames erupted in the pool of spilt fuel. The fires engulfed Vox, who began screaming and flailing as he was burned alive, the stench of cooking flesh soon joining that of burning jet fuel. Sunset just stood and stared as her nemesis was roasted, his screams continuing until his vocal cords burned away. His charred body finally stopped moving and collapsed to the ground just as the sun began to rise, the first sunbeams of the morning illuminating the girl.

"That's it…" she said. "…It's over. After eight long years, it's… it's finally over…"

Emotions welled up within Sunset, and Samara reached her and grabbed her in a comforting hug just as she fell to her knees and started quietly crying. The old Justicar held the girl as she received some well-needed, long-overdue emotional catharsis. It was done. Brian and the others had finally been avenged. As an explosion rang out in the background, signaling the destruction of the jamming device courtesy of Baird and Kal jury-rigging something from a few rocket warheads, Sunset Shimmer finally allowed herself to relax and let her feelings loose.

After so, so long, she was free.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Don't worry, folks; Celestia and Twilight have already convinced Sunset not to follow her original "join the others in death after killing Vox" plan; she's going to try living again for once, with their help.

NEXT TIME: a huge battle royale, as Narud's technique is used to sic a number of influential beings on our heroes.


	3. Impure World Resurrection

I have been waiting a long time to write this chapter…

And regarding the, er, "revelation" of Naruto Chapter 646, I very much prefer to think of the whole "Humans gained chakra through the Tree of Life" thing as an allegorical tale; it's been established earlier in the manga that chakra is the present-in-all-people life energy made from physical and spiritual power, and I'm sticking with that. Maybe the Six-Paths Sage's mother was just the first person of the Naruto-verse to access and harness her chakra, and she passed that knowledge onto her son and things moved from there. …In fact, that's the canon for this series, as of now.

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

The character of Küchen is a creation of fanfic author "InsertAuthorHere", and is used here with his permission.

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Planet Ulnar**

**Day 3 – 15:00 Hours**

A considerably large force of heavy hitters made their way across the cool, barren wasteland. From what could be discerned, the enemy's stronghold was only around 100 kilometers from their present location, but the potential of anti-air made a direct drop a very unwise idea. So instead they were approaching on foot… or rather, on wheel; a convoy of Warthogs, Autobots, and an M35 Mako rolled across the dusty terrain, making good time.

The list of people along for the ride was pretty big: Gamma and Sigma Teams, Group Nanoha, the Chief & the Arbiter, Zeratul, Ahsoka, Galen Marek, and Rahm Kota, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Tsunade, the recently-arrived Negi, Kotarō, Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Nodoka, Lancer Team, Group Sora, the Equestria Group (the Element-Bearers, Trixie, Sunset, Shining Armor, GT, and the three Princesses), the four Z-Fighters flying overhead, Delta Squad, Group Madoka, Samus Aran, and Shepard with Garrus, Tali, and Kaidan.

The convoy rolled on for a little while longer, Shepard's Mako in the lead. Suddenly, though, the tank came to a stop, signaling the other vehicles to as well. Shepard's group disembarked, and everyone else followed suit.

"Scanners are picking up a distortion nearby" he said. "Be ready."

Everyone went on high alert… and just in time too, as a swirling vortex-like Dark Gateway appeared a moderate distance away. And when two certain figures stepped through, everyone immediately readied themselves, adrenaline pumping.

"_**I figured it was only a matter of time before you all showed up here**_" the Dark Voice said. "_**Fortunately for you, I am not currently in the mood to do any fighting myself. I believe I will instead sit back and enjoy that show that my faithful Second is about to put on.**_"

'_Kurama…_' Naruto thought. '_Do you feel that?_'

'**Yeah…**' the Fox Spirit replied. '**His power level is the same as mine…**'

"_**K**__onohagakure shinob__**i**__…_" Narud said. "_**I**__t's a bit of a surprise to see you her__**e**__. __**I **__suppose, then, you'll have intricate knowledge of the technique I'm about to perfor__**m**__. __**L**__et us see how you all do when faced with the specters of your pas__**t**__! __**Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!**_"

The Konoha group gasped. Narud formed the quick hand-seal sequence, and a pulse of power radiated out from him. A long, long row of wooden coffins burst up from the ground in front of him and the Dark Voice. After several seconds, the lids fell away, revealing their resurrected occupants. Shock and horror abounded through many of the DDF force.

Grand-Master Yoda, Master Kenobi (revived at his Clone Wars-era physical age), Master Windu, Anakin Skywalker, Jiralhanae Alpha-Chieftain Tartarus, Jiraiya, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan, Itachi Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Neji Hyūga, Chao Lingshen, Oryō Sonozaki, Agent South Dakota, Alicorn Princess Amicitia, the dark mage unicorn Küchen, Locust General Skorge, Frieza, Cooler, Saren Arterius, Tela Vasir, Olivie Sägebrecht, Jail Scaglietti, Quint Nakajima, Tarlis Lanstar, Sayuri Uchiha-Lanstar, and Tiida Uchiha-Lanstar. 28 _Edo Tensei_ summons, all of them possessing some history with members of the present DDF group.

"Aw, shit…" Marcus Fenix muttered, gripping his Lancer. "We're in for it now…"

"Master…" Ahsoka breathed out.

"_Ero-sennin_…" Naruto murmured. "And Neji…"

"J-Jiraiya…?" Tsunade's breath caught in her throat.

"_Nii-san_…" Sasuke tried to keep his expression neutral, and didn't quite succeed.

"Obito…" Kakashi spoke sadly.

"C… Chao?" Negi's heart felt like it was breaking just a teensy bit at seeing his student, friend, and descendant disturbed from her rest in such a manner.

"Little Sis…" North murmured sadly.

"No…" Celestia gasped out, seeing her beloved older sister and her fallen first student. "By Father, please no…"

"Frieza & Cooler…" Goku said, scowling at the two brothers.

"Brother…" Vegeta whispered.

"Saren and Vasir…" Shepard growled.

"T-The _Sankt Kaiser_…" Precia gasped.

"M-Mommy?" Subaru whimpered, Ginga standing next to her with an equal expression.

"Mom… Dad… Big Bro…" Teana whispered, eyes as wide as can be and full of shock and sorrow. "H-How could this…?"

As one, the 28 _Edo Tensei_ reanimations stirred. Most of them seemed quite confused as they looked at themselves and their 'neighbors', though most of the revived shinobi very quickly realized what was happening, recognizing the technique in effect.

"Aw, damnit, not _again_!" Deidara complained. "This is getting ridiculous, hn!"

"What in Spirits' name is going on here?" Saren asked.

A few other reanimations made similar remarks of confusion.

"This is _Edo Tensei_" Itachi interrupted, being heard by all the others. "It is a forbidden technique from my world. The caster summons the souls of the dead from the Afterlife, bonding them to bodies made from magically-altered dust and earth that are possessing of the same power and abilities that their bodies in life did, but with the ability to repair and regenerate from any damage, and a literally-unlimited pool of stamina. The summoned spirits are bound to the caster's will; we can think and talk for ourselves, but if the caster wills it our bodies are wholly out of our control. If they send us against someone we do not want to fight, they can switch our bodies' control over to the technique and _make_ us fight."

The reactions from the others ranged from disbelief and shock to disgust and horror at being manipulated in such a manner.

"I remember studying about this…" Sayuri Uchiha-Lanstar said. "The _Nidaime Hokage_'s forbidden technique…"

"To defile the dead's peace in such a manner…" Saint-Queen Olivie muttered. "How disgusting and vile…"

"To be fair," Kakuzu replied to the woman, "the Second Hokage had somewhat-altruistic motivations when he created the technique, like granting closure or having the revived spirits convince their still-living friends to switch sides or lay down their arms peacefully. But people after him who learned it perverted it for their own goals." He then turned to his old partner. "So you finally croaked, eh Hidan? Took you long enough."

"Fuck you, Kakuzu" Hidan replied. "I was stuck as a severed head at the bottom of that damned pit for _weeks _before Jashin-sama came to take me! Do you have any idea how _boring_ that was?-!"

"You're loud as ever, I see…"

At this point, they all finally noticed the living who were arrayed against them.

"Galen and Ahsoka?" Anakin muttered. "How are they alive?"

"Master Kota I see as well" Yoda said.

"Arbiter…" Tartarus growled. "So the heretic still lives…"

"Sasuke…" Itachi spoke softly. "It looks like you went back to the right side, after all."

"Naruto and Tsunade…" Jiraiya said grimly. "To think I'd be forced to fight the two of you…"

"Kakashi…" the man who was once Obito spoke with disdain. "And Uzumaki, too… This is an interesting development."

"Naruto-kun?" Neji murmured. "I never imagined this could happen."

"Negi…" Chao said in a near-whisper. "Am I going to have to fight you like this? I'm so sorry…"

"Shion…" Oryō growled. "The xeno-loving, twin-born filth whose existence is an offense to the clan…"

"North?" South Dakota said with surprise. "I… I killed you; how are you alive?"

"Celly?" Amicitia murmured. "And Cadence & Luna, too? …No, this is a different incarnation of Luna; something must've… killed the Luna I knew."

"Celestia…" Küchen sneered. "And two more alicorns, as well? The dark-colored one must be Luna… And who's that little purple unicorn next to her? Have I been replaced?"

"Fenix…" Skorge hissed as he eyed the leader of Delta Squad.

"Saiyans…" Frieza hissed in much the same manner. "…Brother? Did they get you, too?"

"Yes" Cooler replied. "The 'Super Saiyan' sent me hurtling into Earth's star."

"Shepard?" Saren stared, his last memory being when he thanked Shepard for freeing him as he put a gun to his own head.

"So he survived the Shadow Broker's reprisal somehow…" Vasir said.

"My goodness…" Scaglietti chuckled. "This is quite a reunion."

Quint looked at her two daughters on the other side of the battlefield. "Subaru, Ginga… You're all grown up…"

Sayuri and Tarlis looked to their son. "Tiida?" Sayuri asked. "You're dead, too?"

"Yes" Tiida replied. "Six years after the masked man killed the two of you, his subordinate found and killed me. Teana's… been on her own since she was 10, I believe."

"The 'masked man' was me" Obito spoke up, drawing the attention of the three. "I am the student of Madara Uchiha. And the 'subordinate' in question was Nagato, though he called himself Pain. I suspect the reason Nagato is not here amongst us is because his soul was sealed away by the _Totsuka no Tsurugi_ wielded by that boy's _Susanō_" he pointed to Itachi, who nodded.

Tarlis spotted his younger brother amongst the crowd, but then his, Sayuri's, and Tarlis' gazes were drawn to a teen girl with long red hair and unshed tears in her eyes.

"Teana…" Tiida whispered.

"…She looks so much like you, Sayuri" Tarlis said.

Sayuri nodded. "My baby girl… She's gotten so big…"

"Oy!" Küchen shouted. "Whoever's behind this, how long have we been dead?"

"_**Y**__ou've been dead the second-longest, Küche__**n**_" Narud replied as he stepped into view of the _Edo Tensei_ summons. "_**I**__t has been 501 years since Celestia ended your lif__**e**__. __**A**__micitia, the alicorn near you, is the longest dead, for over 4,000 year__**s**__. __**M**__iss Sägebrecht's the third-longest dead, at around 130 year__**s**__. __**T**__he rest of you are considerably 'fresher', ranging from two decades to two month__**s**__._"

"A Lesser Daemon…" Olivie said. "So you're the one who summoned us."

"_**And I am his master.**_"

The revived individuals turned to look at the Dark Voice, and many paled as they felt his enormous dark power.

"He makes Palpatine look like a joke…" Obi-Wan muttered, eyes wide.

'Such power, on par with a high-end Tailed Beast' Itachi thought. 'And his energy feels much… fouler than any of the Tailed Beasts could ever hope to.'

"A Greater Daemon…" Amicitia whispered, shocked and a little afraid. "Wait… A Fallen Xel'Naga?"

"Who the hell is this guy, hn?" Deidara asked.

"I think I recognize him…" Jiraiya murmured. "When Teana-chan showed me a memory of that Ihann Crystal thing, the Overmind's vision of the future. The Dark Voice…"

Everyone on both sides was silent as they all dwelled on their thoughts.

"Um, excuse me?" Samus shouted at Narud and the Dark Voice. "Out of curiosity, why didn't you bring back Ridley?"

The Dark Voice would've smirked if he had a mouth. "_**Because he is not dead.**_"

Samus groaned. "Damn it. I should've figured…"

"_**He managed to barely survive the damage dealt to his cyborg body by the Chozo statues on Tallon 4, and is at the moment nearing completion of repairs. …Also, I wanted to bring back Sith Archlord Palpatine, the Protoss mage Tassadar, and the two Keyblade-Wielders Terra and Eraqus, but for some reason their souls – their Hearts – have not passed on. Thus, they are out of the Edo Tensei's reach.**_"

Many people's attention was then drawn to a flare of power, as a reddish aura came to life around Teana, whose eyes were clenched shut with a few tears streaming down from them. Then they snapped open as Eternal _Mangekyō_, a look of fury on her face, and a Stage-2 _Susanō _formed around her. The spectral construct quickly formed and fired a high-velocity chakra arrow from its crossbow, aimed at the Dark Voice. The Fallen Xel'Naga braced himself, catching the arrow, and with slight difficulty throwing it aside; it flew past him with great speed in a curved flight-path, impacting a distant rock formation and blowing it to bits. Then Sasuke formed his own _Susanō_, and he & it both formed a sequence of hand-seals. He and his spectral warrior both fired a _Katon: Gōkakyū_ at Narud, only for the Dark Voice to protect his second-in-command with a conjured wall of absolute-zero ice. The two _Susanō _were then dispelled as Teana & Sasuke got a hold of themselves again.

"To so easily convert one's _ki_ into elemental attacks of such strength…" Frieza said, looking at Sasuke. "That's very impressive, boy."

"Teana and that boy…" Sayuri said, eyes wide with shock. "They both have the Eternal _Mangekyō_…"

"That boy is my little brother," Itachi said, "and your nephew, Sayuri-san. I am Itachi, eldest son of your brother Fugaku. That is Sasuke, my younger brother."

"So it seems we're in similar circumstances, eh, Itachi-san?" Tiida asked.

"Indeed."

"_**Well, I do believe that's enough chit-chat for now**_" the Dark Voice interrupted. "_**It's time we get things started. Sadly, I have important business to attend to, so I can't stay and watch in person. Narud, be sure to have your puppets put on a good show…**_"

Narud nodded as the Dark Voice vanished through a Dark Gateway. "_**O**__f course, my lor__**d**__._" He snapped his fingers, and several weapons (originals or perhaps just perfect copies) materialized amongst the _Edo Tensei_ force: the Jedi's lightsabers, Tartarus' custom "Fist of Rukt" gravity hammer, Hidan's triple-bladed scythe, a Darkness-enchanted katana for Oryō, an MA5C assault rifle and M90 shotgun for South, a new, more durable chainsword-staff for Skorge, and various ninja weapons for the shinobi of the group. The living group readied themselves as best they could bring themselves to as well.

"Goku," Piccolo said, "Krillin and I can handle Frieza and his brother. They may have been big shots 10 years ago, but we're a hell of a lot stronger now. You and Vegeta should focus on bigger targets."

"Right" Goku said. "Thanks."

"I'll deal with my brother" Vegeta said, sounding unusually subdued. "We used to communicate each other's feelings through sparring when we were kids. Let's see if we still can…"

"Naruto…" Jiraiya called out. "Even from here, I can tell by looking in your eyes you've done a lot of growing up since I've been gone."

"I never would've made it as far as I have without you, _Ero-Sennin_" Naruto replied. "Now… I can show you how far I've come."

"Shepard…" Vasir called out. "How the hell did you survive the Shadow Broker's reprisal?"

"Liara and I tracked the Broker to his base" Shepard answered. "Turns out, he was a Yahg; the original Shadow Broker was a Turian who took him as a slave, but he overthrew him and assumed the post 60 years ago. Liara and I managed to kill him, and now she's the new Shadow Broker, using her resources to help me."

"That Pureblood bitch is the new Broker?" Vasir muttered. "Damn it all…"

"You took down a Yahg?" Saren asked. "That's actually quite impressive, Shepard."

Tartarus chuckled. "I don't really care about the circumstances anymore, Arbiter" the big Brute said. "I'm just glad to get another chance to kill you."

"You are as overconfident as ever" the ornate-armored Sangheili replied as he drew his two plasma swords.

"_**H**__idan… I have altered your curse technique to be able to affect non-human__**s**__. __**H**__ave some fu__**n**__…_"

Hidan giggled a little unstably. "You've given me another chance to spill more blood in Jashin-sama's name… This is _perfect_…"

Deidara grinned evilly. "I'll make this battlefield into my greatest piece of performance art yet! Hn!"

Narud let out a subdued chuckle. "_**B**__egi__**n**__._"

Independent of their will (well, some of them), the _Edo Tensei_ reanimations' bodies charged into battle, and the living forces arrayed against them followed suit.

-_Mini-Break_-

Shion and her resurrected evil grandmother clashed, Void Blade and dark katana meeting again and again. Less than a minute into their fight, however, a third figure stepped in, blocking Oryō's blade and forcing her back.

"Shion…" Zeratul said. "I know you may have scores to settle with her, but your and Khan's power are better used against stronger foes. I will handle your fallen grandmother."

"_He's right, Shion_" Khan's telepathic voice was heard, the Tailed Beast siding with Zeratul on the matter. "_As much as an evil old bat your grandma is, some of the others could really use our help._"

After a second's consideration, Shion nodded and hurried off. Oryō tried to pursue, only to find Zeratul blocking her path. The evil old woman growled as the veteran Dark Templar stared her down. Then, their blades met as their duel began.

Meanwhile, a ways away, two younger siblings and their older brothers stared at each other. Teana and Sasuke looked to each other, nodded, and then took off running at the revived Tiida and Itachi. The two brothers readied themselves, _Sharingan_ activating, as their younger siblings grew close… and then vanished in a flash-step, reappearing directly in front of _each other's_ elders. Now, a surprised Tiida used a Shield spell to block an electrified sword swing, while Itachi narrowly dodged a Spartan-strength punch. The two had decided to get over the potential emotional difficulty of fighting their beloved big brothers by switching targets – Sasuke versus Tiida, and Teana versus Itachi. The two battles progressed side by side, energy bolts and Uchiha fire-type techniques soon being thrown around.

A larger battle was starting up a little farther away. Küchen's charge at Samus was interrupted by Naruto, who slammed a rising-uppercut _Rasengan_ into the revived dark unicorn's chest, sending him spinning back through the air. His shredded body began repairing itself, pieces that looked like scraps of paper magically flowing back to the damaged area and reforming as he got back on his hooves beside a few of the other _Edo Tensei_ summons – Deidara, Hidan, Jiraiya, Olivie, and Amicitia.

"This isn't going to be easy" Goku said. "Their power levels are the same as they were at death while we've all become stronger, but their pool of _ki _and stamina is literally infinite. They could outlast us."

"Back when Kabuto used _Edo Tensei_ on our world," Sakura said, "the summons were dealt with in one of two ways – the bound spirit being granted emotional closure, which released them from the technique, or the body being physically bound and sealed in such a way as to be unable to do anything at all. The problem is, I don't think we have the right kind of binding techniques on hand, especially something strong enough to contain Jiraiya-sama and those two" she pointed to Olivie and Amicitia. "And, well, Deidara and Hidan don't _need_ closure; they're sadistic bastards who just like hurting people and showing off."

There were twin bursts of power as Nanoha and Naruto entered Sage Mode, Shima on the former's right shoulder and Fukasaku on the latter's left.

"So…" Fukasaku said. "Who are we… J- Jiraiya-chan?-!"

"The enemy made you into an _Edo Tensei_, too?-!" Shima cried out. "How _could_ they?-!"

"I'm sorry this happened, Shima-sama, Fukasaku-sama."

"…It's not your fault, Jiraiya-chan" Fukasaku said sadly.

"So I see Naruto's learned _senjutsu_? And this lovely young lady as well?"

"Yeah" Shima nodded. "They've both surpassed you in its mastery, even."

The old Toad Sage smiled. "Good" he said softly. "Very good, Naruto…"

Meanwhile, Olivie noticed what was in Nanoha's left hand. "You have a Device? That means you're from my realm, correct?"

"Yes, Olivie-sama" Nanoha replied. "And… This is going to sound weird, but… Somebody cloned you recently. The enemy tried to use her as a power source, but we rescued her. Her name is Vivio, and she's five years old. She's my adoptive daughter."

"I see… Well, from what I can tell of you, I believe she's in good hands. …What world is the central one for mage civilization now?"

"Midchilda, ma'am."

"Midchilda… I remember that place – a refugee world with beautiful forests. So it became the new central power, then?"

"Yes. We're called the Time-Space Administration Bureau. We've been around for about 80 years now. Though we only met and forged alliances with the other-realm powers a few months ago."

"So…" Küchen said to Twilight and Sunset (who was currently in pony form). "I notice the both of you are standing close to the 'oh-so-illustrious' Princess. Who might you be?"

"I am Sunset Shimmer, second student of Princess Celestia. 14 years ago, I believed her to be holding me back from my true potential, and fled to a different Realm. A series of events led me to become part of a team of specially-capable individuals, who managed to teach me humility and the value of friendship. One of them turned traitor and killed the others, and I spent eight years hunting him down. Yesterday I finally killed him, and have now decided to accept the Princess' forgiveness and her gracious offer to reassume the position of her student."

"I am Twilight Sparkle, third student of Princess Celestia and bearer of the Harmony Element of Magic. I have been Celestia's faithful student for 12 years. She needn't trouble herself with you while she deals with her older sister; Sunset and I will handle you."

The _Edo Tensei_ unicorn scoffed. "So she got herself two more pets to do her work for her. Alright, then. I'll deal with you two first."

"You will _try_" Sunset replied.

"Sister…" Celestia said. "I'm so sorry this is all happening…"

"It's not your fault, Celly" Amicitia replied. "You couldn't have foreseen this. _None_ of us could have foreseen me being made into the undead pawn of a Fallen Xel'Naga; that's not exactly something easily considered. …I see Luna and Cadence; where are the rest of our siblings? And what happened to the Luna incarnation I knew to trigger a new incarnation?"

Celestia sighed, her horn glowing golden as she attempted a mind-link with her 'revived' sister. Amicitia responded, and suddenly her mind was filled with information – the Windigos, the Alicorn-Draconequus War, and Celestia hiding on Equestria within The Veil for over 3,000 years, with the various events that took place during that time. When the link broke, Celestia bowed her head in sadness and shame.

"I forgive you, Celestia" Amicitia said with a warm smile. "And I'm sure that Mother, Father, and our siblings would as well."

"I can't risk that…" Celestia said, sounding almost weak and fearful. "I… I don't plan to lower The Veil anytime soon. I just can't…"

"Can we get this show moving, please?" Deidara shouted. "This is boring, hn! I _need_ to bring some life to this drab wasteland with some of my best art!"

"Shut up, you explosive nut!" Sakura shouted. "Nobody cares about your mad 'art'!"

"How rude!" Küchen said. "Art is very important, little missy! Art feeds the senses, enriches the experience of life! And the _best_ art is the type that is transient and fleeting, explosions of beauty that last mere seconds in reality but remain in the memories of those who witness it for a lifetime!" He conjured a serpent of magic that flew into the air and then exploded with bright light and concussive force.

Deidara laughed gleefully. "Yes! Finally, I have met someone who understands my art! True art is bursts of emotion, gone in an instant but remembered forever!"

"I agree wholeheartedly, my good man! These plebeians are blind to true beauty."

"Indeed they are. Come, my equine brother! Let us show these Philistines the explosive majesty of our art! Hn!"

"Ugh, another Deidara…" Sakura muttered.

Elsewhere, the revived Tartarus, Skorge, Saren, and Vasir had teamed up to take on the Master Chief, the Arbiter, Samus, Delta Squad, and Team Shepard. The Sangheili leader's twin plasma swords clashed with the chainsword-staff of the Kantus high priest, while the head Spartan-2 exchanged bullets and blows with the augmented Turian. Shepard hit Tartarus with a Biotic Throw that the big Jiralhanae managed to stay upright through (though he staggered back a few steps) and left the Chieftain open to a Super Missile from Samus that blew his arm off, only to quickly begin reconstructing it, while Kaidan and Vasir got into a Biotic shoving match that looked to be even until Dom blasted the undead Asari with his shotgun, blowing a hole in her side and forcing Vasir to leap back and get distance while her _Edo Tensei_ body regenerated. Saren hit 117 with a Biotic punch, and the Master Chief rolled with the blow, his shields protecting him, and countered with a pair of frag grenades, the shrapnel tearing into the revived Turian's body, which quickly began to repair the wounds.

The girls of Sigma Team were taking on the revived Quint and Sayuri, and the six of them could barely keep up with the two experienced and frighteningly powerful warrior-women. Aqua's Water- and Ice-type magic was invaluable in protecting against or cancelling out Sayuri's _Katon_ jutsu, but it was still a tough slog, not helped by Subaru & Ginga proving unable to bring themselves to fight all-out against their mother. Up above, Vegeta and Tarlis clashed again and again, physical attacks and _ki_ blasts being exchanged between the two brothers. Vegeta hadn't gone Super Saiyan, because he wanted to fight his big brother on an even footing, to give the two a chance to 'communicate' properly. Negi and Chao were blitzing around as well, firing lightning- and fire-type attacks at each other, neither scoring any decisive hits yet. Meanwhile, Ahsoka, Galen, and Kota had engaged the revived Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda in battle, and were actually holding their own against the four Master-level opponents, Ahsoka having activated her _Pactio_ saber-gauntlet to give herself some extra options. Not too far away, the Dakota siblings were engaged in a frantic shootout as well.

Kakashi and _Edo_-Obito rushed at each other again, the _kunai_ in their hands clanging together as they clashed.

"You've gotten a little bit stronger, Kakashi" Obito observed. "How long has it been since I died?"

"About six or seven weeks" Kakashi replied. "You're one of the 'younger' resurrections here, Obito."

"Hmph."

Obito leapt back, forming a quick sequence of hand-seals, combining Fire chakra with _Kamui_:

"_Katon: Bakufū Ranbu_!"

The swirling cyclone of flames raced toward Kakashi… only to be blocked by a single skeletal arm of solidified dark-green chakra. Obito's eyes widened in shock.

"A _Susanō_… How?"

"After you died, I… harvested your remaining _Sharingan_ from your body. Recently, when I learned the full scope of the enemies we'd be facing…"

He uncovered his left eye, revealing that the three-armed pinwheel design of his & Obito's _Mangekyō_ was now a six-wheeled one.

"…I merged your other eye with this one to forge an Eternal _Mangekyō Sharingan_. The other _Mangekyō_ techniques, including the _Susanō_, are now available to me, and even the basic _Sharingan_ no longer puts such a great strain on my chakra reserves – I could keep it uncovered all the time, if I so wished, but, well, you know what they say about old habits being hard to break."

"…I see… You always were one to advocate using every possible resource at one's disposal, Kakashi. But your present foe, this 'Dark Voice', has a power level equal to the _Kyūbi_. Do you really think that will help much against such strength?"

"There's only one way to find out. Come, Obito. One last spar…"

Obito couldn't help but smirk as his own _Mangekyō Sharingan_ spun to life. "Very well."

Piccolo and Krillin flew about, taking the revived Frieza and Cooler on with surprising skill.

"This is ridiculous!" Frieza shouted as his right arm – severed by a _Kienzan_ – reconstructed itself. "The Namekian and the runt weren't nearly this strong when I last fought them!"

"To be fair, brother," Cooler replied, as the whole punched in his stomach mended itself, "that was nearly 12 years ago. They've probably been training to fight ever-stronger opponents since then."

"That's right" Piccolo said. "Compared with some of the things we've fought, like Cell and Majin Buu, you two are small fry."

"Of course, we couldn't beat _them_ in straight-up fights" Krillin added. "But all the training we did to try has made us more than strong enough to handle you two!"

Cooler smirked. "Then perhaps I'll take things up a notch. Watch closely, little brother; I'm about to do what you never could…"

Cooler's power level spiked as his body began to grow and shift, becoming taller, more muscular, and spikier. His voice deepened from a low tenor to a rumbling bass, as his chakra flared.

"I-Impossible…" Frieza whispered. "A _fifth_ form?-!"

Krillin gulped nervously. "Well…" he said. "It's not _that_ bad, right Piccolo? I mean, we can still take him, right?"

"If we work together and give it our all, probably" Piccolo replied. "But it's going to be tough. Get ready to go all-out, Krillin."

"R-Right. Ready when you are, pal!"

The Namekian nodded, and his aura turned red as he activated his newest trump card:

"_Kaio-ken_!"

Shion leapt about, a green chakra cloak with three swishing chakra tails trailing behind her, as she dodged Kakuzu's attacks. She then twisted out of the way of a _Hakke Kūshō_ from _Edo-_Neji, responding with a _Bijū_-powered Force Push that knocked him heels-over-head. She used her Void Blade to slice through a few piercing threads sent at her by the old patchwork shinobi, and countered with a _Gōkakyū _that burned away part of his body, which immediately began reconstructing itself. Suddenly, Shion saw a reddish blur come shooting in behind her, blocking an explosive-tag kunai thrown at her by Neji. Mai stood back-to-back with her girlfriend, two-tailed red chakra cloak already up. The two nodded to each other, and rushed at the revived shinobi.

The differences between the four Uchiha siblings' power levels soon became apparent. Sasuke and Teana were more or less equal in power level. Sasuke had Tiida on the defensive, slowly overwhelming him. But Teana was barely able to keep up with Itachi, the elder Uchiha's skill and experience coupling with his _Kagé_-level power to provide one of the toughest fights Teana had ever been in. Everything she threw at him he dodged or countered, and whenever he launched an offense she was hard-pressed to avoid serious injury. As the two duels broke apart, the four fighters landing near their partner, they stared each other down.

"Hey, Sasuke…" Teana said, panting lightly. "I'm not too keen on fighting my own brother, but… can we switch?"

"Why?" Sasuke asked with a tiny smirk. "Is Itachi-_nii-san_ too much for you?"

"Yes!" Teana replied emphatically. "Your big bro's a _monster_ in battle! If I didn't have _Jinchūriki_-level chakra reserves, I don't know what kinda shape I'd be in right now…"

Tiida turned to Itachi. "Are you really that strong?"

Itachi shrugged his shoulders. "I've been told."

"Cousin, brother," Sasuke called out, "how about we make this 2-on-2 rather than two separate 1-on-1 fights that happen to be near each other?"

"Are you okay with that, Tia?" Tiida asked. "I kind of want to see how strong my baby sister has gotten, actually…"

"Her power level's the same as mine" Sasuke said. "And I've been giving you trouble so far, so…"

A small smile appeared on Teana's face. "Alright… big brother. I'll show you how far I've come, and make you proud! _Katon: Gōenkyū_!"

The ensuing fireball, denser and much faster than a standard _Gōkakyū_, caught Tiida by surprise, and the two _Edo Tensei _brothers barely leapt out of the way in time as it exploded violently where they'd just been.

"I don't think I've ever seen that technique before…" Tiida said.

"It's a jutsu I created" Itachi replied. "Back when I met Teana when I was alive, I gave her a scroll telling her how to perform it. I see she managed to put the scroll to good use."

The two brothers looked over to see that Teana now had a confident expression on her face as her mana and chakra surged, while Sasuke channeled Lightning chakra into his sword. The two pairs charged at each other, and the battle continued.

Three figures flew through the sky above – Goku in his Super Saiyan 2 form and Nanoha (& Shima) in Sage Mode exchanged attacks with the revived Saint Olivie. Either one of them could probably match or even (slightly) surpass her in these forms, but they wanted to conserve their energy so they double-teamed her to halve the load. Down below, Naruto and _Edo_-Jiraiya clashed, two _Rasengan_ grinding against each other and then detonating, sending both combatants hurtling away from each other to land on their feet. Hidan and Fate locked scythes, while Sakura, Twilight, Sunset, and Trixie dodged explosive clay warheads from Deidara. Celestia and Luna were engaged with _Edo_-Amicitia, blasts and beams of destructive magic filling the air. Suddenly, a barrage of destructive magic bolts formed all around Luna and raced inward, with Celestia unable to reach her in time… but then Luna spoke:

"_Shinra Tensei_"

A powerful pulse of an unseen force repelled every last one of the blasts. Celestia stared in shock.

"Luna…" she said. "That was…"

"While Nightmare Moon was sealed up," Luna said, "she reached her mind across creation and studied gravity-based techniques, both spells and _ki_-based. When I was purified of her, I retained that knowledge. I seem to have quite the affinity for it, actually."

"I see…"

"Do not act like you have not been recently studying techniques from the shinobi's world as well, Celestia" Luna said with a small smirk. "I have witnessed a few of your semi-secret practice sessions."

Before Celestia could say anything else, however, she became aware of a small pinkish object approaching her rapidly. She quickly noticed it as the revived Küchen, a feral grin on his face… and, she noticed the instant he reached a few meters from her, several pieces of Deidara's explosive clay attached to his body. The resulting powerful explosion kicked up a considerable cloud of dust… which faded to reveal Celestia protected by a translucent purple Shield spell projected by a white-furred unicorn stallion.

"I almost didn't make it in time…" Shining Armor said, slightly breathless. "That was a bit too close for comfort."

"Thank you, Shining Armor" Celestia said once she recovered her wits. "I apologize for being caught off-guard like that."

"Well, it's not every day a suicide bomber pony comes flying at you like he were shot out of a cannon. I don't blame you for being caught by surprise, ma'am."

Scraps of material began to coalesce a short distance away, Küchen's _Edo Tensei_ body reforming itself. "Crap…" he said. "I thought that would work. So you've got yourself a guard now, Princess?"

"Captain of the Royal Guard," Shining Armor replied, "as well as older brother to Twilight Sparkle, and fiancée to Princess Cadence."

Before Küchen could make another comment, he was forced to leap away to dodge a fireball launched at him by Sunset, as she and Twilight pressed their attack on him.

Elsewhere, Sigma Team was still hard-pressed to keep up with the revived Sayuri and Quint. Subaru had finally started using the Seven-Tailed Wolf's chakra, but she could only reliably control two tails' worth, which wasn't enough against the duo. She made a palm thrust that fired a compressed cannonball of chakra-laced wind… which her _Edo Tensei_ mother simply bull-rushed through and kept charging at her. Quint had a scared and upset look in her eyes as she realized her body, of which she still had absolutely no control, was gearing up for a killing blow on her youngest daughter. As she drew close, Subaru braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut… and nothing happened.

She opened her eyes, to find herself in a grayish void. In front of her materialized a gigantic wolf, with silver and blue fur, which looked to be sleeping. His eyes slowly opened, and then focused on her, and seven long tails rose up.

"_SO YOU'VE FINALLY MANAGED TO FIND YOUR WAY HERE, NAKAJIMA_" he said.

"The… The 7-Tailed Wolf…" Subaru murmured, in shock. "Um… W-What is your name? Every other Tailed Beast I've heard about hates how a lot of people never even bothered to learn their names. I don't want that. I want to be your partner, not your owner."

The beast smiled, which somehow managed to look non-threatening despite the huge fangs. "_WELL, YOU'RE A DAMN SIGHT MORE POLITE AND COURTEOUS THAN MY FIRST HOST. MY NAME IS FENRIS. THE PEOPLE WHO MADE YOU SEALED ME INSIDE YOU WHEN THEY DID IT; HOW OR WHY, I DON'T KNOW. KNOWING HUMANS, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN JUST TO SEE IF THEY COULD. SO… WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE? YOU NEED HELP, DON'T YOU?_"

"My… My mother's been revived via _Edo Tensei_. She's being made to fight me and my friends right now – she and Tia's mother Sayuri Uchiha. And they're beating us. Please, Fenris-san… I don't want to hurt my mother, but I know I have no choice. Please give me a little of your power so I can win this. I can't let the enemy use her to hurt the people I care for!"

The old being stared at Subaru, seeing her very soul laid bare before his eyes. The purity, strength, and love for others he saw impressed him, as did the honest desire to befriend and work with him.

"_YOU'RE CERTAINLY AN IMPRESSIVE ONE, CHILD. …VERY WELL. FROM WHAT I CAN SEE OF YOU, YOU'RE THE TYPE OF PERSON I WOULDN'T MIND CALLING 'PARTNER'. I'LL LET YOU USE MY CHAKRA, AND MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE OF IT. YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO FIGHT AND CONQUER THE DARKNESS OF YOUR HEART TO SAFELY AND RELIABLY USE IT, BUT YOU SHOULD BE OKAY FOR JUST THIS FIGHT, SINCE I'LL HELP KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL._"

The massive beast held out a human-like forepaw in a fist, and Subaru bumped fists with him.

"Thank you, Fenris-san."

"_IT'LL BE A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH YOU… SUBARU._"

Back in the real world, only a fraction of a second had passed. As _Edo_-Quint drew closer, a sudden shockwave of bluish chakra surging out from Subaru knocked her away. Subaru gave a long, rising _kiai_ as her Barrier Jacket transformed, becoming a part-chakra construct of blue with silver trim, the jacket part lengthening and merging with the waist-mounted cape to form a sort of longcoat with an intricate silver and black design on it. Her slit-pupiled blue eyes glowed faintly with power, as she and Fenris combined forces.

"This chakra pattern…" Sayuri murmured as she shielded her face from the wind. "She's earned the trust of her _Bijū_?"

Several battles briefly stopped as the combatants sensed the flare of power.

"Total control over Tailed Beast chakra and willing partnership with the Tailed Beast itself…" Jiraiya said. "I can hardly believe it."

"She's not the only one, _Ero-Sennin_."

The old Sage turned his attention back to Naruto just as the boy was shrouded in golden chakra that formed a longcoat with black patterns over it and his arms. Fukasaku hopped off, and then reverse-summoned himself up onto Nanoha's free shoulder.

"I showed you my Sage Mode" Naruto said. "Now let me show you what Kurama and I can do when we work together!"

Jiraiya stared for a few seconds, and then he smiled. "Naruto, I have never been prouder of you than right now. You truly have become the Child of Prophecy. …_Kyūbi_… No… Kurama. If you can hear me, thank you."

'**What can I say?**' the fox replied telepathically. '**The kid grows on ya. You did good by him too, Toad Sage.**'

"Mom…" Subaru said. "I'm sorry if I have to get a little rough with you now."

Quint smiled. "It's okay, dear. This _Edo Tensei_ body doesn't feel pain and can reconstruct itself. Please… stop me from being forced to hurt anyone else."

Subaru nodded. 'Here we go, Fenris!'

'_RIGHT!_'

'Let's do this, Kurama!'

'**Ready!**'

_Edo_-Sayuri came in from the right, trying to flank Subaru, only for a silver-haired mage of great power to finally arrive, appearing in her path.

"Sorry I'm late" Reinforce said.

"_YOU'RE RIGHT ON TIME_" Fenris replied.

_Edo_-Cooler and _Kaio-ken _Piccolo clashed with great speed and force as they flew about. Cooler smirked behind his faceplate. The Namekian may have possessed more offensive power than he, but in this form his defense was top-notch, helped by the self-repairing nature of his current body. What's more, the _Kaio-ken_ was beginning to tire Piccolo out, while Cooler's _Edo Tensei_ body was of limitless stamina. All he had to do was outlast the Namek…

"_Karyū Issen_!"

A slicing wave of flame struck Cooler from behind, burning a deep gash into his back which slowly began to repair itself. Signum flash-stepped in, appearing beside Piccolo, who looked to her and nodded. The two stoic warriors then charged the Ician prince together. Zeratul and Oryō were still matching blades, the old Protoss managing to block, parry, or dodge every attempt the xenophobic fallen matriarch made to kill or get past him. Shion and Mai were still holding strong against the revived Kakuzu and Neji, while Cadence was keeping Deidara at bay. Things seemed to be going okay.

"_**W**__ell, we can't have that now, can w__**e**__?_"

Suddenly, many Unversed and Heartless emerged from the Darkness and joined the fray, attacking alongside the _Edo Tensei_ fighters and making things more difficult for the heroes. Fate was forced back from her fight with Hidan as the Heartless swarmed her, sensing her Keyblade, and she had to shift focus to them. Celestia landed across from Jiraiya, Deidara, Küchen, and Amicitia, as well as a charging mass of Unversed. Deciding it was time to attempt one of her newest techniques, the Sun Princess' body glowed as she transformed, assuming the form of a fair-skinned human with radiant pastel-shaded hair and gleaming golden armor. She formed a sequence of hand-seals and reared back, gathering a large amount of chakra and then releasing it:

"_Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku_!"

She exhaled a massive wall of intense flames that raced across the battlefield, quickly engulfing the _Edo Tensei_ summons and the Unversed.

'Whoa…' Naruto thought. 'Hey, that's the same technique Madara used against the Shinobi Alliance Fourth Division!'

When the huge flames finally died down, the Unversed had all been destroyed. Amicitia's shield spell had managed to (barely) hold, while the other _Edo Tensei_ were reforming. Celestia returned to her normal form, panting lightly. Her eyes widened.

'Wait' she thought. 'One is missing…'

Celestia turned her head to the side and looked up… and spotted Hidan coming at her from above with a bloodthirsty grin, his scythe swinging right at her face. There was no time to dodge, and she remembered Narud saying he'd upgraded Hidan's curse technique to work on non-humans. The revived Jashinist felt giddy as he prepared to gather the first blood of a sacrifice for Jashin-sama…

…When all of a sudden, out of nowhere there was a blur of motion – a clang of metal as another scythe blocked Hidan's, and then a swing of the blade that bisected him at the waist. The two halves of Hidan went flying backward, his body beginning to pull itself together once he landed. Celestia stared in shock at her rescuer. He was an alicorn stallion a little bit taller than her, with wings that looked to be made of bone. His fur was deep black, but with a white stripe along his back that looked like a spine, and white fur on his head that formed the outline of a skull. On his flank was a picture of a Tarot card with a skull on it, and in his left foreleg he grasped a scythe that looked like it was made of bone.

"Hello, little sister" he said with a calm, kind tone to the sibling whom he had not seen for over 3,000 years.

"M-Mortis…" she whispered, fearful.

"Calm yourself, Celestia. I am here to aid you and your allies in this fight. Father sensed Amicitia being pulled from Heaven and forcibly bound to a mortal vessel, so He and Mother sent me to investigate. I was not expecting _Edo Tensei_, and I was most certainly not expecting to find you here. …I see Cadence and Luna are present as well, and… oh. This is a different incarnation of Luna? I remember; Father regressed her shortly before the war. Without He or Mother to restore her before she reached a certain age… Father will be most sorrowful when I inform Him that He inadvertently ended the 'life' of one of His daughters. …Celestia, who is responsible for this? Who has disturbed Amicitia's rest and the rest of so many others?"

"A… A daemon named Narud, servant of a fallen Xel'Naga we refer to as the Dark Voice" Celestia replied.

Mortis scowled. "Amon…" he said.

"What?"

"That is the Fallen Xel'Naga's name – Amon. He was to the Xel'Naga what Morning Star was to us, but unlike Morning Star, Amon _succeeded_ in his plot to annihilate his brethren. I fought him once, a million or so years ago, but I failed to deal a killing blow, and he escaped. If he is finally making his move…"

"Watch out!"

Mortis was alerted by Itachi, whose body was moving out of his control to attack him. Mortis took a stance, the blade of his scythe glowing a light blue, and he dodged Itachi's strike and swung in a downward cut that passed through the air directly behind Itachi's _Edo Tensei_ body. Suddenly Itachi stopped, standing in place and looking down at himself. He brought his hands up to his face.

"I can control my body now…" he said, sounding slightly astonished. "Narud's control is… broken, somehow?"

"My scythe, Azrael, can cut anything in existence," Mortis replied, "even insubstantial things, such as the link between your body and your summoner. It comes in handy for one who is charged with escorting souls of the dead to the Beyond if said souls do not want to come quietly."

"…I thank you sincerely, Mortis-sama. I will assist your sisters and their allies in dealing with the other resurrected ones."

"You won't be the only one." The Alicorn of Death and Change gripped his scythe tight as he looked at the still-huge horde of Darklings amongst the _Edo Tensei_ summons. "I believe it's time to tip the odds a little further in your favor…"

(BATTLE MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden _OST 2 – "Crushing")

Mortis and Itachi rushed in, heading for where Sasuke and Teana were fending off another attack by _Edo_-Tiida, who had unwillingly taken advantage of their being distracted by Itachi's freedom. Mortis got in close and Azrael's blade glowed blue as he swung it down, severing Narud's control of Tiida's body. Tiida near-immediately lashed out with a bone-crushing chakra-enhanced kick to a Neoshadow that tried to attack Teana from behind. He came in next to her and smiled, and an expression of childish wonder formed on her face as she realized it all.

"_Nii-nii_…?" she murmured, a youthful sparkle in her eyes.

"You ready, Tia?" He asked.

"Y… Yeah! Sasuke, Itachi-_nii_! Let's turn this thing around!"

"We'll show them what Uchiha can do" Sasuke said. "Right, brother?"

"Right. Maybe this'll be a bit easier than Kabuto, eh, Sasuke?"

"Hmph. Maybe…"

"I can sense which resurrections are doing this against their will" Mortis said. "I'll point them out, and we'll get in close so I can use Azrael to free them!"

They rushed in, heading for the other fights. Sasuke appeared in _Edo_-Skorge's path, blocking a chainsword-staff strike aimed at Cole, while Tiida kept _Edo_-Saren in place long enough for Mortis to swing his blue-glowing scythe directly behind him; the now-free revived Turian lashed out with a Biotic Throw that foiled an attempt by _Edo_-Tartarus to attack the Arbiter from behind.

"I did so many things wrong in my life" Saren said. "It figures that I wouldn't get the chance to do something right until _after_ said life is already over…"

Mortis' group had already hurried on, heading for the Jedi. Sasuke and Teana helped Ahsoka engage _Edo-_Anakin long enough for Mortis to use his scythe to cut Narud's link, freeing Anakin's body from the daemon's control. Galen kicked _Edo-_Mace away and managed to land a deep slashing blow on _Edo_-Kenobi that stunned him long enough for Azrael to sever the link to Obi-Wan as well, allowing him to fight for the heroes once his revived body quickly repaired itself. Working together with Master Kota, Ahsoka, Galen, and the younger Uchiha siblings, the two heroes of the Clone Wars engaged _Edo_-Yoda and _Edo_-Mace, the overwhelming assault keeping their hands busy enough to leave their bodies unable to stop Mortis from freeing them as well.

"_**W**__ha__**t**__? __**No**__! __**T**__his can't be happenin__**g**__!_"

A swarm of Unversed and Demons leapt in from all sides at the group, only for a combined Force Wave from Yoda and Mace to send them all flying back. A Form-2 Iron Imprisoner came flying in, but a huge orange spectral warrior sprang into being around Tiida, the _Susanō_ blocking the large Unversed's hammer with its shield and then decapitating it with a point-blank chakra crossbow shot to the neck. Mace then went to aid Shion against Kakuzu, while Yoda moved to assist Zeratul with Oryō.

Mortis flash-stepped into _Edo-_Neji's path, preventing him from attacking Mai from behind, and then a swing of Azrael's blade freed the boy from Narud's control. Neji promptly went to help Shion and Mace. The Alicorn of Death and Change then took off into the sky, flying towards where Negi and _Edo_-Chao were facing off. Negi hit Chao with a Bind spell that held her just long enough for Mortis to get in close and use Azrael to free her from Narud; her first action was to give Negi a big, tight, face-between-breasts hug, before the two of them then dived down toward the ground to assist in the other battles, Chao casting a Fire-type _Sagitta Magica_ to cut down a wide swath of Unversed.

As Mortis approached the area where the two Saiyan Princes were duking it out, Vegeta sent him the telepathic equivalent of a knowing smirk. Then he burst into golden light as he assumed his Super Saiyan form, to Tarlis' great surprise. With vastly increased speed, he blitzed forward and sent Tarlis flying with a powerful blow, right into Mortis' path. A perfectly-aimed and -timed swing of Azrael severed the link to Narud, freeing Tarlis from control as well. Tarlis stared in awe at his little brother and the power he wielded.

"Vegeta…" he said. "That's…"

"Yes" Vegeta nodded. "The legend of the Super Saiyan is no longer legend. I am the second to achieve it; Kakarot, the one fighting the Bureau's 'Saint-Queen', was the first. My son and his two sons can do it as well, though Teana cannot yet. Also, Kakarot's eldest son, Gohan, was the first to achieve an 'Ascended Super Saiyan' form, referred to by some as 'Super Saiyan 2'; Kakarot and I can both do that as well. Lastly, Kakarot has a 'Super Saiyan 3' form that grants him practically-deific levels of power, but he can only maintain it for a short time before he burns it out."

"Incredible… Leaving that aside, what say we go help my son and daughter?"

"Very well. You lead, brother."

_Edo_-Quint slid to a stop on her feet, the chunk blown in her side mending itself. Subaru and Fenris' combined power had given the girl in question a _dramatic_ increase in strength, speed, and durability, enough that she was even more powerful than Quint herself, and able to keep her _Edo Tensei_ mother occupied. Meanwhile, Reinforce matched blows with _Edo_-Sayuri, tanking almost everything she threw at her and dodging what she couldn't. Sayuri's body began to summon her _Susanō_… but then Itachi came in and interrupted with a blow that sent her staggering. His _Susanō_ then formed at Stage 1, a red skeletal specter reaching out and holding her in place with its bony arm long enough for Mortis to come in and free her from Naruds control. Upon gathering herself, she immediately summoned her own golden-yellow _Susanō_ and blindsided _Edo-_Quint with it, allowing Mortis to free her as well.

Up on a rock formation on the far edge of the battleground, Narud watched with growing unease.

"_**I**__… think it's time I leav__**e**__…_"

He formed a Dark Gateway and stepped through it, retreating before the enemy could find and eliminate him.

"_Wakusei Rasengan_!"

Naruto's rather unique attack struck _Edo_-Jiraiya hard, sending the body-controlled Toad Sage spiraling back through the air, a large hole blown through his immortal undead body's chest. He groaned as he staggered to his feet… and then felt and heard a rush of air right behind him as someone flash-stepped in. He then felt as control over his body was returned to him, and after he finished pulling himself together he turned to Mortis.

"Thank you, _Shinigami_ Alicorn" he said. "You're pretty damn strong, from what I can tell. I'm a bit surprised."

"It comes with the job description" Mortis replied. "I'm in charge of guiding the souls of the dead to the Afterlife… including the souls of the wicked to Hell. Sometimes, those wicked souls are very powerful, and don't intend to come quietly. That's a big reason why I am the most powerful of my Parents' children – I _have_ to be to handle whatever big nasties feel like being dragged to the Underworld kicking and screaming rather than being civilized and coming along willingly. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

The black alicorn took off into the sky, heading up to where Goku and Nanoha were fighting _Edo_-Olivie. He came in close and swung Azrael, but the revived Saint-Queen managed to dodge. However, she could not dodge a quick _senjutsu_-reinforced Bind spell from Nanoha, and that kept her still long enough for Mortis to break the control link and return her control over her own body to her. She nodded in thanks.

Amicitia was now the only unwilling foe amongst the _Edo Tensei_ yet to be freed of Narud's control; all the others were fighting the heroes of their own will. Mortis, Teana, and SS2 Goku flew in towards her battle against Celestia & Luna. A chakra arrow from Teana's _Susanō_'s bow impacted a charging sphere of magic, detonating it explosively and throwing the revived alicorn back. A barrage of golden blasts from Celestia and Goku struck next from two directions, battering the quickly-conjured Shield spell that Amicitia conjured around herself. A gravity-enhanced physical strike from Luna shattered the defensive construct, and several glowing binds of Celestia's golden light formed around the revived alicorn. They rapidly began to decay in the face of Amicitia's powerful magic, but they held just long enough for Mortis to swing Azrael's glowing blue blade, severing the control link.

"Thank you, brother" Amicitia said. "It is good to be in control of myself again."

"We still have all the resurrections who aren't on friendly terms with us" Goku pointed out. "What do we do about them?"

"I know a powerful Binding Spell that should neutralize them so Mortis can return them to their realms' respective Hells. Shall we?"

The group was then surprised by a few near-miss stray _ki_ blasts from Piccolo & Signum's fight against Cooler. Goku and Amicitia flew in to join the fray, Goku hitting Cooler from the side with a _ki_ blast that blew a big chunk out of him. Piccolo then pierced the _Edo Tensei_ Ician's chest with a Double Special Beam Cannon, leaving him too busy reconstructing himself to avoid a ribbon of glowing violet light from Amicitia that flew in and wrapped around him, quickly forming an ovoid cocoon of energy that solidified into a capsule of sorts with a powerful magic seal on the front. The cocoon fell to the ground below with a thud, and Piccolo nodded in thanks as he disengaged his _Kaio-ken_, panting from exertion.

"Thanks, guys" he said. "I couldn't have kept that up much longer, even with Signum's help."

"Yeah, the _Kaio-ken_ takes a lot out of you" Goku replied. "You held it for pretty long, actually. Nice job, Piccolo."

Not too far away, Krillin and _Edo_-Frieza were exchanging _ki_ blasts, cancelling each other's blasts out with them while trying to overwhelm each other and score some hits. Mixed in amongst Krillin's blasts was a _Kienzan_ flying in vertically, heading for Frieza like a buzzsaw. The younger Ician prince made ready to dodge simply by going up or down, when suddenly as it grew close it tripled in size, becoming taller than Frieza was. Frieza only had time to widen his eyes before the attack bisected him vertically. As his _Edo Tensei_ body tried to pull itself together, he too was then bound and sealed by Amicitia's spell, joining his brother below.

"That's payback for blowing me up on Namek, ya jerk!" Krillin shouted.

Hidan and Kakuzu had hooked up, fighting together against Fate, Shion, and Mace and keeping them on their toes; much as the two Akatsuki members couldn't stand each other, their combination in battle was quite well-practiced and dangerous. Then Sayuri and Teana joined the fray, mother and daughter working together to take on the two fallen shinobi. Teana's Mirage Longswords clashed with Hidan's scythe alongside Mace's lightsaber, their furious assault forcing the bloodthirsty Jashinist back. Finally, Mace managed to knock Hidan's scythe away, and Teana speared him through the chest with her blades and sliced outward both ways, cutting him in half. He was promptly sealed by Amicitia. Kakuzu, meanwhile, was hammered into a small crater by the fist of Sayuri's _Susanō_, and then sealed as well.

"Least I don't have to listen to Hidan's bitching anymore…" he murmured as the cocoon of sealing magic enveloped him.

Spent shell casings littered the ground where North and South fought. North charged in close, turning it into a melee fight, he and his fallen sister displaying every ounce of their training as they tried to beat each other senseless. Finally, though, North gained the upper hand, wrenching South's shotgun away from her and blasting her twice point-blank. As her body tried to pull itself together, Amicitia came over and sealed her.

"Goodbye, sis…" North said sadly. "I wish I could've been a better brother, and put a stop to that hatred that grew inside you…"

"…I wish I could've been strong enough to stop it myself…" South replied as the sealing cocoon formed around her. "Later, bro."

Yoda and Zeratul were running circles around Oryō, the two old masters proving to be too much for the evil old woman. As Amicitia approached, Zeratul hit Oryō with a Void Prison, holding her long enough for the Alicorn of Magic to seal her.

"You'll never harm Shion again…" the Dark Templar murmured.

Jiraiya and Quint joined the battle against Tartarus, Skorge, and Vasir. Quint's rising blow sent Skorge's chainsword staff flying through the air across the battlefield, and then she swept his legs out from under him and hammered him into the ground hard enough to have shattered half the bones in his body had he still been alive. At the same time, Jiraiya flash-stepped in front of Tartarus, hitting the big Brute with a _Rasengan_ that blasted a hole through his torso and sent him tumbling back. Both combatants were then sealed by Amicitia. Shepard and Saren clashed with Vasir, their Biotics working together to overpower hers. Saren hit her with a Warp that stunned and damaged her, and then Shepard Biotically picked her up and then slammed her down hard enough that she bounced. As Amicitia's sealing spell enveloped her, she glared at Saren.

"You think taking me down will make up for what you did, Arterius?" she sneered. "You betrayed the Council just like I did."

"That's true" _Edo-_Saren replied. "But I did it because Sovereign's influence had convinced me it was the only way to save all organic life in the galaxy. Wrong as I was, I still did it for noble intentions. You, on the other hand, betrayed the Council solely out of greed; you killed innocents of all species just because the Shadow Broker paid you to. Even I find that reprehensible, Vasir. In that one regard, of motivation, you were a worse traitor than I."

Now, only Obito, Deidara, and Küchen remained. The three came together, ready to fight to the last. The heroes gathered, and Naruto & Jiraiya stood side by side, gathering chakra. They attacked, Naruto's Wind chakra combining with and strengthening Jiraiya's fire jutsu to create a wall of supercharged flame that raced toward the _Edo Tensei_ trio. When the fires faded, however, Obito stood at the center of a silver-hued _Susanō _surrounded by armor of magic-infused clay, Deidara and Küchen inside as well. In response, six _Susanō_ – Teana and Itachi's red, Tiida's orange, Sayuri's golden, Sasuke's purple, and Kakashi's green – formed amongst the heroes. A barrage of _Yasaka Magatama_ was flung out, striking and badly damaging Obito's armored _Susanō_. Three chakra arrows from Teana, Tiida, and Sasuke finished the job, shattering the spectral construct and engulfing the three resurrections in a powerful explosion. Several people approached the damaged summons as Amicitia's sealing spell enveloped them.

"Deidara…" Sasuke said. "I just want to tell you… that they turned your exhibit in Iwagakure into a modern art museum."

"What?-! Oh, goddamn it! Why would you tell me that?-! You rotten little son of a bi-"

He was cut off by the sealing cocoon enveloping his head.

"Is that true?" Itachi asked.

"Does it matter?" Sasuke replied.

"Celestia…" Küchen growled. "Still ruling with an iron hoof and a silver tongue… And now you've got two little helpers, as well. You were always a tyrant. You never even…"

"Küchen…" the Solar Diarch spoke sadly. "For trying to use you to free Luna early… for pushing you down that dark path… I am truly, truly sorry."

Küchen's eyes widened, the anger leaving his face as astonishment took its place just as the sealing cocoon closed over him.

"This is it again, eh, Kakashi?" Obito said.

"Yeah…" Kakashi replied. "I can't help but think… how sad Rin would be to see her teammates fighting to the death like this…"

"…You're probably right. If I see her, I'll tell her sorry…"

The seal was finished, and the battlefield was quiet. The fight was over.

"I guess… it's over…" Chao said sadly. "We can return to our rest now…"

"Actually…" Mortis replied. "I've been in mental contact with Father. To assist in the fight against Amon and whatever other threats may come, I will be able to fully revive six of you."

Gasps of shock rang out through everyone.

(MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden_ – That one sad-sounding violin and choir song, not officially released or named, that plays in a few moving scenes like Minato & Kushina saying their goodbyes to infant Naruto, and the Tailed Beasts acknowledging Naruto as the Six-Paths Sage's successor)

"Jiraiya of the Sannin, Itachi Uchiha, Neji Hyūga, Chao Lingshen, Quint Nakajima, you five have been chosen. Please step forward. Lanstar family, the three of you may choose which of you is the sixth."

Tiida startled as he felt two hands on his back nudge him forward. He looked back to his parents, who nodded. He stepped forward alongside the other five, as everyone else watched in silent awe. Mortis 'drew' an intricate pattern in the air with Azrael, forming a large and complex rune. The chosen six were enveloped in light that engulfed their bodies. When it faded, they no longer bore the signs of _Edo Tensei_; their hearts beat once more, eyes with normal white sclera opened up, and life energy flowed through them. Tiida was promptly tackle-hugged by Teana so hard that she almost knocked him over, choking back sobs as she tried her very hardest not to start bawling. Subaru and Ginga, meanwhile, _did_ knock Quint over, though she didn't mind in the least as she held them tight. Neji and Naruto grasped hands and shook, while Jiraiya got a hug from Tsunade. Itachi stood by Sasuke, the two brothers smiling together, while Chao gleefully pulled Negi into another hug like earlier.

"I guess this is it, Shepard" Saren said. "It's my time to go. I leave the galaxy in your hands; if anyone can stop the Reapers, Shepard, it's you and your friends."

"Harbinger, the Reapers' leader, won't know what hit him" Shepard replied. "We'll stop them. And we'll give him a few whacks for you."

"A few? Well, I suppose that's the best I can hope for."

"Galen…" Anakin said. "I'm so sorry…"

"…It's okay" Marek replied. "If The Force could forgive you, then…"

"When saw you we last did, Tano…" Yoda spoke, "broken, your heart was, by our grievous mistakes. Glad I am to see that found a new place, new friends, you have." He looked to Mace and Obi-Wan, who nodded.

"Padawan Tano, step forward" Mace said.

Ahsoka did so.

"We believe it is time to finish what we tried to start so long ago. You have displayed great courage, resourcefulness, strength in the Force, wisdom exceeding your age, and the ability to triumph over great hardship and adversity. You are no longer a Padawan. On this day, we bestow upon you the rank of Jedi Knight. Stand tall and proud, Knight Tano."

"I will" Ahsoka replied. "Thank you, Master Windu."

"Snips…" Anakin walked up. "Ahsoka… I guess I'll see you around…"

She hugged him. "Yeah. I'll miss you. Goodbye… father."

He smiled. "I'll tell Padmé you said hello."

"Sister…" Celestia, Luna, and Cadence walked up to Amicitia. "I guess this is…"

Amicitia gently used a wingtip to bring Celestia's chin up as she smiled at her. "Take care, little sister. And… you may not believe it, but I believe the family will forgive you. …Twilight Sparkle, could you please come here?"

"Y-Yes, Your Highness?" Twilight asked as she stepped forward.

"You have done my sisters a great deal of good, young one. Your light and love have brought joy to their lives, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart." She laid her wing across Twilight's body for a few seconds; though Twilight interpreted it as a comforting gesture, Celestia caught the faintest passing of magic into Twilight.

"S-Sister…" she murmured. "Was that…?"

Amicitia grinned and winked to Celestia, who after a few seconds nodded in understanding.

"Mom… Dad…" Teana walked up to her parents, who took her into their arms.

"I wish we could've been there to watch you grow up" Sayuri said. "You've made us both so proud."

"Tiida…" Tarlis said. "Vegeta… Please take care of her…"

"I will, father" Tiida replied.

"You can count on me, brother" Vegeta said solemnly. "Farewell…"

Once the goodbyes were done, the group stood by Mortis, ready for him to take them to the Beyond; the sealed cocoons were ready as well, being carried by Mortis' thestrals. Mortis smiled at the group.

"Goodbye, my friends. Take care, and show Amon that life will not so easily bow to his whims. Sisters… I bid you adieu for now…"

Mortis spread his wings and took flight. From the active _Edo Tensei_ summons, the souls emerged, floating up beside him as their physical bodies rapidly crumbled to dust. The souls looked down at their mortal friends as they ascended, smiling and waving goodbye. There was a flash of light, and Mortis and his charges vanished.

Sunset Shimmer, currently in human form, found Skorge's chainsword-staff stuck into the ground a little ways away.

"…I'm keeping this" she said.

On a cliff overlooking the battlefield from a distance, two dark figures stood and observed.

"Looks like it's over" Ruin said. "Narud's plan backfired. I suppose we'll have to clean up after this mess."

"Yes…" Master Xehanort said. "These 'warriors of the light' had best enjoy their brief respite while they can. Next time… it's _our_ turn…"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: The Seekers of Darkness make their attack.

A notice: Although it's not a guarantee, I am planning on bringing the universe of _RWBY_ in with a future Book.

Also, trivia, in the form of additional _Edo Tensei_ summons that I originally wanted to use but chose not to for varying reasons: Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Savage Oppress, Asajj Ventress, some of the deceased Spartan-2s, Noble Team, Ripa Moramee (the bloodthirsty Arbiter from _Halo Wars_), Protoss warrior Fenix, Raszagal, Kisame Hoshigaki, members of _Cosmo Entelecheia_, Agent Wyoming, Sentinel Prime, and a few deceased Predacons.


	4. The Seekers of Darkness

I am _so_ embarrassed. In the last chapter, I forgot I'd revived Jail Scaglietti and thus didn't write any scenes with him. I'm sorry about that, folks. As for this chapter's long wait, it's because A) it always takes me a while to write out fight scenes, and this chapter's almost nothing but those, and B) because I recently got _Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX_, _Oracle of Seasons_, and _Oracle of Ages _(I call them the Zelda Handheld Golden Trio) on the 3DS Virtual Console, so playing through those slowed me down as well. Also, the trouble that these fight scenes gave me means that they're not quite as lengthy or epic as I'd intended. Sorry.

So… Apparently, Shikamaru dies in the manga? Well, since I've already done the _Edo Tensei_ chapter without him, let's just say this Book series is even more of an AU by saying he somehow (just roll with it) survived the final battle. From the looks of it, Canon!Kakashi may be dead, and look how many appearances he's made in _Teana's Travels_ so far lately.

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Planet Ulnar**

**Day 4 – 11:17 Hours**

The full-blown resurrection of six famous and beloved individuals caused quite a stir, to say the least. Jiraiya and Tsunade spent the night getting drunk at the bar aboard the _Vladivostok _(the _Starshot _didn't have a dedicated bar), while Itachi started settling in as well, being granted a DDF rank of ground-force Captain (O-3) due to his previously-displayed tactical and leadership skills. Teana stuck to her big brother like glue, chattering excitedly to Tiida about everything she'd experienced; for Gamma Team, it was both amusing and strangely endearing to see their calm, mature leader acting like a giddy little kid with her beloved big bro (though Sarah was already perfectly aware that Teana could be adorable when she was cheerful enough and had someone sufficiently nurturing to bring that side of her out). Likewise, Subaru and Ginga pretty much wouldn't let their mother go, though Quint didn't mind that at all; also, Genya had nearly had a heart attack once he heard about what happened, and was on his way as quickly as possible. The rest of Ala Alba had come running upon learning of Chao's revival, and Kū Fei had held onto her tight while crying for at least 20 minutes straight (with Chao only-half-jokingly complaining about Kū hugging too tight and bruising a few ribs). Lastly, the rest of Team Guy had come over as well, and Tenten's first action upon seeing Neji alive again was to confirm some of the Konoha 11's suspicions of her attraction to him by pouncing on him with a passionate kiss.

Also, when asked why he and his friends hadn't mentioned that Kakashi had upgraded his Sharingan into an Eternal Mangekyō, Naruto simply said "Nobody asked!"… and then admitted that Kakashi had asked it be kept a semi-secret to make it a surprise whenever he needed to unveil it in a battle.

The six had been shown the 'archival scryed footage' of everything they needed to know. The knowledge of what they were up against – Amon, Xehanort, and (at some point in the future) the Reapers (as well as Jul Mdama and his people, wherever they were, and this "Ur-Didact" that Eve was searching for) – galvanized their resolve to train themselves and help train their fellows, to be ready for what was coming.

Right now, a strike force composed of Gamma, Sigma, & Theta Teams, Team Sora, Fate & Alicia, the Harmony-Element bearers plus Trixie, Golden Tiara, & Sunset, and Team Madoka moved deeper into the enemy's zone, seeking the altar-like ruins that were supposed to be Amon's main base of operations on Ulnar. They were farther in than they'd gotten yesterday, and hadn't encountered more than a few Heartless patrols. Nonetheless, they were on high alert.

"You just _know_ something's going to pop out sooner or later, right?" Riku said.

"Eh" Sora replied. "We'll handle it when it comes."

The group moved along, soon reaching a dreary field where dull-colored, ankle-high grass coated the landscape. A small herd of lanky-built quadruped herbivores, analogous to antelope, gave the intruders a wide berth out of instinctual caution. A breeze blew through the area, rustling the tall grass and bringing a slight chill to the air. A lone black-hooded figure was approaching them through the grass, hunched over a little as it walked.

"I was wondering when you all would show up" said the gravelly voice of Master Xehanort as he lowered his hood. Everyone immediately readied themselves, summoning Keyblades or drawing other weapons. Master Xehanort smirked and snapped his fingers, and several personnel-size Dark Gateways formed around him. From them emerged Xehanort's Heartless, Xemnas, Young Xehanort, Xigbar, Saïx, Checker Monarch, Malia Abbadia, and Ruin.

"Hey, hey," Xigbar said, "the gang's all here. You kids ready for a rumble royale?"

"So you're picking a huge fight just for the sake of it?" Sora asked, taking a stance with his Kingdom Key, presently in its 'Ultima' form.

"If we can dispose of at least some of you," Master Xehanort replied, "it will remove obstacles to my plans and to Amon's. Of course, I do not expect this to be easy; I know that you all are too much of a threat to take lightly. I make it a point to try to avoid underestimating my foes if I can help it. That is why I brought the whole group for this one."

"As if that'll make much difference against all this" Teana gestured to the very large group of DDF magical powerhouses she was part of.

"We won't know until we try, now will we?" Young Xehanort replied.

The DDF group charged, and the Seekers of Darkness rushed to meet them. Several DDF fighters moved in ahead, focusing on particular targets. …And when they were all close enough to said targets, three Dark Barriers sprang up at the same time around three clusters of combatants from both sides – Erika, Timmy, Teana, Golden Tiara, Madoka, Miyako, Malia, Checker, Xigbar, and Saïx; Fate, Alicia, Laicixa, Ruin, and Young Xehanort; and Sora, Riku, Aqua, Xehanort's Heartless, Xemnas, and Master Xehanort – blocking the other DDF members out. The Seekers of Darkness were meaning to pick them off sequentially rather than all at once.

**(AN: The following three battles take place simultaneously)**

-_Break_-

"Well, well," Malia said, "we've got quite the setup here, haven't we?"

The six DDF fighters readied themselves, taking stances with their weapons (or, in Timmy and GT's cases, enshrouding their fists/hooves in Lightning magic and Biotic power, respectively). Malie grinned as she eyed Madoka and Miyako, and held out her right hand. In a burst of Darkness, she was holding a sleek black Keyblade with dark-purple 'teeth' and a dark-red handguard shaped like a fractured heart. There was mild astonishment amongst the DDF fighters.

"You'll be perfect for me to test my new weapon on" Malia said with an evil grin, focusing on Madoka and Miyako.

"This oughtta be good" Xigbar said with a cocky smirk, gripping his spiked/bladed blasters as he and Teana sized each other up.

"You think we can do this?" Timmy murmured to Golden Tiara as he and Erika stood on either side of her, the trio staring down Checker and Saïx.

"If we work together, maybe" the Corona agent replied.

(BATTLE MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts 2 _OST – "The 13th Dilemma")

"Okay, folks!" Xigbar shouted, twirling his guns with a flourish. "Let's get this show started!"

Checker and Malia fired a barrage of dark magic bolts at the heroes, who scattered and picked targets. Teana and Xigbar paired off, already flash-stepping around and firing magic bolts at each other. Malia and Madoka locked Keyblades, dueling for a few seconds until Malia was forced back by spears of Miyako's ice shooting up from the ground beneath her. Erika used all her magically-enhanced strength to block the swings of Saïx's enchanted claymore, until he was blasted aside by a Biotic Throw from Golden Tiara. Checker tried to attack GT from behind, only to be blindsided by a Lightning Punch from Timmy that sent her tumbling back. She landed on her hooves and conjured several metal spears that she launched at him, but Erika cast Reflega to protect her boyfriend.

A concussive blast of Dark magic was fired by Malia at Miyako, but the ice-using _Puella Magi_ just used her hammer to knock it aside. Madoka fired off a Light-type _Sagitta Magica_, the barrage of pink magic blasts spreading out and then moving in to converge on Malia. Xigbar broke off from his gunners' duel with Teana long enough to use his space-manipulation powers to teleport Malia to safety; she nodded to him, and then charged Madoka. Saïx swung his claymore several times, releasing directed shockwaves at Erika. The little warrior threw her Keyblade forward in a Strike Raid, tossing it past the incoming shockwaves and closer to Saïx, and then teleported herself to it just before the attacks hit, grabbing the weapon and rushing at the Org.-XIII member. She locked blades with him, attacking with a strength and ferocity that belied her small and cute appearance.

Crimson dart-bolts from Xigbar's 'Freeshooter' weapons impacted reddish-orange Crossfire Shot bolts from Teana, neither of the combatants having yet managed to land any hits on each other. Xigbar was deliberately staying out of Teana's melee range via flash-steps and teleports, fully aware that he wouldn't last a minute against her if she got close enough to use Mirage Longsword against him. Instead he kept her back with constant fire, using his power over space to attack from multiple angles in the span of seconds. Granted, if she decided to go all-out, use her Starlight Breaker, _Susanō_, or the like, she'd flatten him anyway regardless of range, but she seemed to still be habitually holding back enough to provide herself a challenge. She managed to get close and landed a punch on Xigbar that would've dislocated a normal person's jaw but was only enough to leave him with a small bruise later, and he rolled with the blow and warped out again.

Malia used her dark Keyblade to block several spears of ice launched at her by Miyako, and then her guard was broken by a blow from the girl's hammer, allowing Madoka to land a combo of Keyblade strikes on her. She leapt back before any further harm could be done, unleashing a Darkness-type _Sagitta Magica _barrage at the two girls. Madoka intercepted some with her own Light-type _Sagitta Magica_, and a combination of her Reflera spell and Miyako's Ice Shield spell protected the two from the rest. Miyako's hammer glowed with magic as she struck her Ice Shield, which shattered into a fusillade of Ice Daggers that went flying at Malia, who frantically leapt and twisted about to dodge the barrage. The human-form Heartless growled as she noticed a cut on her left cheek that was partially numb with cold. Then she focused power into her dark Keyblade and fired several fireballs at the duo.

Golden Tiara hit Saïx with a Biotic Pull that pulled him into a _Raikahōken_ from Timmy, knocking him back and dealing some damage. Checker Monarch tried an electrified tackle at the boy, only for Erika to intercept and land a solid blow with the Stroke of Midnight that sent the evil mare flying back. As she then dodged a few concussive blasts of pale-blue magic from the enemy Nobody, Erika felt quite thankful that it was daytime, and thus neither of Ulnar's two moons were in the sky for Saïx to draw power from; he was enough of a handful already. Timmy sent out two _Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu_ at Saïx, forcing him back, while GT formed a Biotic Barrier to protect the two kids from another barrage of high-velocity conjured javelins from Checker, and then launched the barrier as a concentrated shockwave that bowled Checker over.

Teana cast Crossfire Shot: Macross Shift, forming a huge storm of red-orange mana bolts and firing all of them at once at Xigbar. Even with his space-manipulation/teleportation abilities, it took every bit of agility Xigbar had to dodge the majority of the bolts, and a few of them actually hit, accumulatively dealing a fair amount of pain and damage. Teana rushed at him, a Mirage Longsword readied, and he brought the unfired spikes of his Freeshooters to bear to block the blade. …And then a spatial distortion became visible from Teana's Eternal _Mangekyō _eyes, and the two-dozen Crossfire Shot bolts she'd sucked up with _Kamui_ came shooting out, nailing Xigbar at point-blank range. He warped back to avoid a follow-up swing of her sword, one hand clutching his midsection where a few particularly hard hits had been dealt.

"I don't get paid enough for this…" he said, panting. "Screw it. I don't like the Dark Voice that much anyway. If you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna say you won and go wait for the Boss to wrap his fight up."

Xigbar then vanished through a Dark Portal, reappearing outside the barrier, hiding with his energy signature masked to avoid detection by the DDF personnel waiting outside, as he began using his limited/basic healing magic ability to slowly mend his wounds.

The two kids and Golden Tiara pressed their attack on Saïx and Checker, keeping them from being able to charge up any big moves. Then Teana jumped in, aiding Erika against Saïx while GT and Timmy took on Checker. Checker fired a wave of small explosive mana bolts, and Golden combined a strong Biotic Barrier with Timmy's Round Shield spell to (barely) withstand them. Tim then returned fire with Lightning-type _Sagitta Magica_, with GT charging in their wake. Checker shielded against the electric magic bolts, and then a Biotic Punch from Tiara shattered her shield spell and pushed her back. A focused Biotic Shockwave then sent her hurtling back, and Timmy flash-stepped into her 'flight' path and hit her with a lightning-charged palm strike that sent her careening right back at GT. However, Checker teleported out of Golden's reach before the coming blow could be landed, appearing off to the side, wincing and panting for breath. She tried to call up another spell, but the pain from her three broken ribs was too much for her to focus through. Snarling in wounded pride, she teleported out, fleeing the battle.

Saïx and Malia joined up, seeing how their two partners were out of the fight. The six DDF fighters converged on them, surrounding them on all sides. Saïx calmly observed the situation, and then turned to Malia.

"A retreat would be wise" he said emotionlessly. "Even together, the two of us do not have the power to defeat all six of them, especially if Lanstar uses her _Mangekyō_ techniques. It would be better to save ourselves, so we may be of use for Master Xehanort's future plans."

"Though I am loathe to leave a fight," Malia replied, "I am in agreement. Let's get out of here."

Before any of the DDF group could do anything to stop them, the two of them vanished through a Dark Gateway that opened beneath their feet, letting them fall through. As they left, the surrounding Dark Barrier came apart, freeing the sextet.

-_Break_-

The Testarossa Triplets, Fate in her young-adult form and Laicixa & Alicia in their child forms, stared down their foes – Young Xehanort and Ruin. Everyone already had Keyblades drawn – Keyblade-form Lochaber for Alicia, Midnight Roar for Laicixa, Sign of Innocence and Keyblade-form Bardiche for Fate, Ruin's two Dark Keyblades, and No-Name for Young Xehanort. Fate scowled at her Heart's Darkness, and Ruin gave a calm smirk in return.

"It's been a while since we last fought, Fate" Ruin said. "I've been looking forward to this. Here is where I take your & your sister's Hearts, and forge a new χ-Blade! And this time, I have help to ensure I succeed!"

"Do not assume it will be so easy, Dark One" Laicixa replied. "All three of us have trained since last time."

"Yeah!" Alicia shouted. "Don't underestimate our ability!"

"Hmph" Young Xehanort smirked. "You're quite confident. Well, then…"

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts 3D _OST – "_L'Impeto Oscuro_")

His dark aura flared to life, as did Ruin's a moment later.

"…Let us see if your confidence is well-founded!" he said.

"Come, _sisters_!" Ruin cackled gleefully. "It's time to shed some blood!"

The two rushed at the Testarossa Triplets with blinding speed, Young Xehanort forming two Illusion Clones each of him and Ruin in an attempt to throw the trio off. Alicia responded by swinging her Keyblade in a wide arc, unleashing a slicing wave of magic that crashed against YX & Ruin's Dark Barriers and dispelled the illusions. Ruin charged at Fate, only for Alicia and Laicixa to head her off, locking blades with her and then forcing her back. Young Xehanort tried to intervene, but Fate stood in his way, attacking and keeping him busy.

Young Xehanort leapt back, slashing his Keyblade to release an X-shaped slicing blast of flame at Fate, who rolled under it and threw the Sign of Innocence in a 'Strike Raid' attack, hitting YX and knocking him back. He flash-stepped away before she could land a follow-up blow with Bardiche Keyblade, though, getting out of range. He fired a barrage of Darkness bolts at her, and she countered with a Round Shield followed by a Photon Lancer, which failed to break his defenses just as his attack failed to break hers. They rushed each other and locked blades, a furiously fast melee duel breaking out.

Midnight Roar and Lochaber Keyblade clashed against the two dark weapons that Ruin wielded, the two physically-younger Testarossa siblings matching blades with their same-sized evil counterpart. Laicixa attacked with a Sonic Blade move, and Ruin blocked it, sliding back a few feet from the force. Ruin leapt back and threw a Strike Raid, but Alicia conjured a Reflega spell that blocked it, and then countered with a Photon Lancer. Ruin blocked with a Dark Shield, but then Laicixa appeared behind her and landed a solid blow with her Keyblade. Ruin growled as she flash-stepped away to safety, before then holding her Keyblade high and casting Dark Thundaga, forcing the sisters to frantically move about to dodge the lightning bolts.

Young Xehanort's Keyblade transformed into a glowing blue energy whip with the cutting teeth at the tip, and he swung it at Fate with great speed and skill. She danced and rolled around and under his swings, occasionally blocking with her Keyblades. She blocked a horizontal swing with Bardiche Keyblade and fired a Triple Firaga at YX from Sign of Innocence, forcing him to transform his weapon to its normal form and use it to focus a strong Shield spell to stop the fireballs. Fate took the opportunity to charge at him, her two Keyblades battering at Young Xehanort's defense, trying to push him back. He gave ground to avoid being overcome, and when he had a split-second's opportunity he flash-stepped away, reappearing off to the side. He tried to cast a Slow spell on her, but Bardiche automatically Flash-Moved her to safety, allowing her to blitz in and engage him up-close again.

Ruin tossed out two large Dark Lightning Orbs that crackled with Darkness-enhanced lightning magic as they flew through the air towards Alicia and Laicixa. When the two moved to dodge, the orbs pursued them, discharging bolts of electricity at them. Alicia hit hers with a Spark Raid, dispelling it, and then fired a Triple Blizzaga at Ruin, who formed a Dark Shield that barely withstood the rapid-fire triple impact of freezing magic. Laicixa, meanwhile, threw her pursuing orb off by using Erika's technique, throwing her Keyblade out to the side and using the weapon's teleportation recall ability in reverse, warping herself to the weapon. The Dark Orb couldn't track the sudden jump, and fizzled out upon losing its target. Laicixa then dashed at Ruin, Keyblades clanging together as they dueled, and Alicia jumped in a second later.

Young Xehanort conjured several shimmering black orbs that surrounded him. He slowly walked towards Fate as every one of them fired a continuous dark-magic 'laser' beam at her. Fate ducked and dodged and blocked with her Keyblades as the beams slowly swept around in multiple directions, trying to slice her. After about 20 seconds of this, the orbs dissipated and faded away, and Young Xehanort rushed at her alongside two Illusion Clones, attacking her from three different angles. Fate simply used one of her newest techniques, taught to her by Sasuke: golden Lightning-type chakra surrounded her as she used _Chidori Nagashi_ to form a surprise defense that the Illusion Clones were dispelled on contact by, and which forced Young Xehanort to break off his attack to avoid being shocked. He scowled at her as she discontinued the technique, and then charged at him.

Alicia and Laicixa continued to press their attack on Ruin. Ruin landed a punch to Alicia's face that sent her flipping back and would surely leave a bruise on her cheek; less than a second later, a roundhouse kick from Laicixa struck Ruin's side, rattling her ribs. The two sisters then combined Reflega spells and threw the resulting wave of hexagonal magic shields forward like a ram, slamming into Ruin and sending her flying back. She landed not too far from Young Xehanort, and the two got back-to-back as the Testarossa Triplets surrounded them again in a triangle formation.

Laicixa cast a Flash-Bang spell that briefly stunned the terrible twosome, and then all three sisters dashed in, landing a triple _Zantetsuken_ that struck both of them hard. When they moved in to deal killing blows, however, Young Xehanort froze time long enough to reappear with Ruin several meters away. Both of them were tired and wounded, Ruin looking to have taken the worst of the combo attack, and YX formed a Dark Gateway and pulled Ruin through it, retreating. The Dark Barrier surrounding this section of the battlefield collapsed, freeing the triplets.

-_Break_-

Three young but supremely-talented Keyblade Bearers stood across the battle-zone from three incarnations of a fallen Keyblade Master. Sora, Riku, and Aqua readied themselves, channeling mana through their bodies and their Keyblades, staring down Master Xehanort and the Heartless & Nobody of his Possessed-Terra incarnation.

"Well…" the old fallen Master said. "I didn't think we'd find ourselves in this position so soon."

"So this is it?" Riku asked. "Here's where you try to finish things?"

"Not necessarily, boy. If I do manage to kill any of you here, that'll make things easier for me down the line. But my plans, unlike Amon's, do not require your deaths just yet. If my incarnations and I are bested, we will simply retreat back to our Realm, where I will carry on my plans without Amon's help. He and I may share the same end goal – the consumption of everything by Darkness – but our methods of getting there are quite different; he has the plan to create and awaken an army of Hybrids and assume total control of the Zerg and Heartless, while I have the plan to recreate the original χ-Blade from its 21 pieces. If he fails here, I can still carry out _my_ plan back home. Of course…" he drew his evil-looking spiky Keyblade. "I have no intention of giving in so easily here…"

"Don't think we'll make it easy for you, either" Aqua glared at him. "I've been waiting 11 years to make you pay for what you did to Terra and Ven. I'm going to take you down!"

Master Xehanort let out a grim, subdued chuckle.

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix _OST – "_Forze dell'Oscurita_")

"By all means, my dear, go ahead and try…"

His pitch-black aura flared to life around him, dark and oppressing like a cold and bitter wind. The human-form Heartless and Nobody flanking him followed suit, the former calling upon his Guardian while the latter formed his lightsaber-esque energy blades. In a burst of motion and power, the three Xehanorts charged.

Aqua conjured several Water Shark Missiles that flew through the air toward Master Xehanort, who countered with powerful bursts of Ice magic that froze them solid, bringing them crashing to the ground short of his position. He then fired a wave of electrified ice blasts at her, and she cast a powerful Reflega spell to protect herself. Both of them then summoned a barrage of ice spears and fired them at each other, dozens of projectiles crashing against each other at the halfway point.

Sora used his Keyblade to bat away red energy bolts from Xemnas, and returned fire with a Balloonra spell, several large, colorful spheres tracking Xemnas and exploding when getting close enough to him. Xemnas summoned several Dusks and had them take the hits for him, and then rushed at Sora with great speed, unleashing a flurry of saber strikes that Sora was hard-pressed to block. However, Sora caught sight of a split-second opening and managed to land a glancing blow, giving him enough time to leap away out of Xemnas' range. He then cast Ragnarok, firing three waves of white magic blasts that shot through the air toward Xemnas. Xemnas dodged or deflected most of them, but a few hit, although they didn't do too much damage to him. He scowled and fired another wave of energy bolts at Sora.

Xehanort's Heartless cast Dark Firaga at Riku, a handful of Darkness-enhanced fireballs racing out only to crash against a Dark Shield from the young master. Riku countered with a Dark Firaga of his own, but the Guardian hovering over XH protected its master by swatting away the flames. It then swung its claws, releasing a shockwave of dark power, but Riku leapt over it and threw a Strike Raid that nailed a solid hit on Xehanort's Heartless. XH shrouded his body in a dark aura and rushed at Riku, flying/gliding low over the ground at great speed in an attempt to land a bone-crushing tackle. Riku rolled out of the way, and XH repeated a few more times before coming out into a ground-pound that sent a shockwave all around that Riku barely managed to jump over in time.

Aqua's and Master Xehanort's Keyblades clashed again and again, the villain's age belying his frightening physical strength, blurring speed, and high-level magical power. Aqua leapt back, wincing a bit at the ache in her arms from blocking a particularly strong blow. She cast Prism Rain, a barrage of multicolored magical projectiles spiraling through the air towards Xehanort. The old man countered with a wave of Darkness bolts that intercepted Aqua's attack, canceling it out. Aqua then formed to Shadow Clones, and she & they rushed in, attacking Master Xehanort from all sides. He destroyed one, but Aqua then sacrificed the other one to deal a solid blow on him; he leapt back, scowling as he held his hand to his side; the wound had been mostly converted to magical damage by his defenses, but enough physical-type damage had gotten through to leave a 'small', shallow wound. Aqua took a stance with the Master Keeper, waiting for him to make the next move. He obliged, magically conjuring several large, sharp hunks of stone and launching them at her.

Sora ran and leapt to dodge energy bolts occasionally interspersed with dashing saber-swings from Xemnas. He leapt right into a prepared Bind trap that held him still long enough for several bolts to hit him, but broke free before Xemnas could close to melee range and used Curaga to heal himself. He hit Xemnas with a Thunder Raid, and then landed a series of Keyblade blows while the Nobody was stunned. Xemnas forced him back before he could deal a finishing strike, however, and then boxed Sora in between four transparent red square-shaped barriers. Energy bolts then began to rain down from directly above the open top, and with no room to dodge Sora had to quickly throw up and maintain a Reflega over his head. As the barrage unceasingly pounded Sora's shield, Sora gathered what mana he could spare into himself, until it finally built up enough for him to cast a powerful Wind-type spell in the form of a burst of magically-infused wind in all directions, shoving the boxing-in barriers out enough for him to slip through to freedom. He then rushed at the surprised Xemnas and landed a solid combo on him, forcing him back.

Riku's Triple Blizzaga impacted Xehanort's Guardian, covering the shadowy being in ice and freezing it in place. He took the opportunity to rush in and lock blades with Xehanort's Heartless, pushing back against the fiend's sword strikes and landing a few blows on him. The Guardian freed itself from the ice encasing it, and Riku leapt back to avoid a swing of its claws. XH then thrusted his palm forward, firing a cannonball of compressed air that struck Riku in the chest, the boy's defensive reinforcement magic being the only thing protecting him from a shattered ribcage. Riku grunted as he used Cura on himself, and then he fired a Flame Salvo attack, a wave of fire bolts that locked onto Xehanort's Heartless and homed in on him. The Guardian blocked most of them, but a few went wide around him, avoiding detection, and then doubled back and hit him from behind. XH stumbled, as his Guardian used its hands to smother the flames on its master's back. Riku smirked, and then rushed in again.

Aqua quickly weaved several hand-seals, and a _Suiryūdan no Jutsu_ materialized, the massive water dragon rushing at Master Xehanort. The old man focused everything he had into a large and powerful Dark Shield spell just as the mass of water slammed into it like a freight train. The shield and cracked and gave way toward the end, subjecting Master Xehanort to a portion of the attack's force. He groaned as he steadied himself, and then pointed his Keyblade high. Two huge spheres of ice, at least 40 feet across each, materialized overhead and came shooting down at Aqua. She focused everything she had into her Keyblade, taking a stance ready to slash, and then with a fierce cry she swung her blade in a wide arc towards the nearest ice sphere. A slicing wave of magic raced out, and when it hit the ice sphere it sliced the giant projectile in two. As the two halves began to fall, Aqua made a leap onto one of the pieces, and then from there up even higher to where the second one was. She struck it downward with her Keyblade and her leg, sending the sphere off-course right towards Master Xehanort. He barely leapt out of the way in time, and when the sphere crashed into the ground and shattered, a few chunks of ice hit him.

"Impressive" he said. "Very impressive. I see why Eraqus named you a Master."

Suddenly, though, his attention was drawn to the fight between Sora and Xemnas, where Sora had just landed a serious blow on the Nobody, who was now obviously having trouble. Xehanort frowned; if he lost any of his Vessels in this battle, _that_ would several jeopardize, if not outright destroy, his plan. He couldn't let Xemnas be destroyed here, even if that meant forfeiting the chance to dispose of Aqua or Riku. With a sigh, he teleported out and reappeared at Xemnas' side, blocking a blow from Sora and then grabbing his Nobody and warping to his Heartless' side. Xehanort's Heartless wasn't in as bad a shape as Xemnas, but he was obviously wounded and beginning to tire.

"Well, we tried" he said, as he raised his Keyblade. "Perhaps we'll have better luck next time."

A thin beam of Darkness shot out from the Keyblade's tip, impacting the top of the Dark Barrier surrounding the battlefield, which then faded away. No sooner had he done that than all the DDF personnel present leapt in, surrounding them. There was a crash in the distance, and Xigbar & Karidé came flying in, both of them looking quite banged up.

"Sir," the Diclonius Unversed Lord said, "I'm not one to run from a fight normally, but I _strongly_ suggest we bail before _he_ gets serious." She pointed in the direction she and Xigbar had come flying from, to where Itachi Uchiha was calmly walking toward them. "This guy's a fucking monster! It would take all of us together to beat him if he was alone, and with all this help he has, we've got no chance."

"I am in agreement" Master Xehanort replied. "We cannot prevail against such numbers in our current states. At least, not without casualties, and I cannot afford to lose any of my Seekers of Darkness here. I bid you all adieu, warriors of the light. We will fight again at another place and time, when the moment of my plans' fulfillment draws nearer. Good luck against Amon; you will most certainly need it…"

He then cast a Blinding Flash spell that forced everyone to avert their eyes. When it faded, he and his fellow group-members were gone, retreated through Dark Gateways back to the Keyblades' home realm. A few seconds later, Goku appeared via Instant Transmission.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked. "I've got a bagfull of Senzu Beans if need be."

"We're fine, Goku-san" Teana replied. "Though a few of us could use a couple of those things. Amon's base of operations isn't too far from here. I say we heal up, have everyone gather, and then make our move to finish this."

"The higher-ups have said the same thing" he said. "It's time to silence to the Dark Voice. I'll send the word; everyone will probably be here and ready within an hour. In the meantime, take a rest and regain your strength; everyone who wants a Senzu Bean, come here."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The three Spartan-2.5s of Team Crimson stood amongst a mound of spent shell casings, scores of dead Amon-controlled Zerg littering the battlefield in front of them. The DDF had just started trying to set up a base here this morning, hoping it was well out of the enemy's territorial range, but apparently they were just too juicy a target to ignore. Now, the Spartan team and a slowly-dwindling squad of ODSTs were up to their necks in red-eyed Zerg.

"We're running low on ammo, sir!" Zeke-B147 said, hefting a chaingun. "I don't think our stores are gonna last much longer!"

"Keep it together, Zeke" Lero-B047 replied, taking down a Zergling with a DMR shot. "I got word from up high; they say help's coming!"

"Well, it better get here fast!" Alisa-B296 shouted as she blasted a Hydralisk's skull open with her shotgun. "Even Spartans can't take on this many of these things without guns!"

"Just hang on! We're gonna be… Aw, hell."

A _humongous_ horde of Zerg came rushing in over the distant hill, easily twice, maybe thrice the size of the force already attacking them, all running (or, for the Mutalisks, flying) toward them.

There was a flash of blue light, as one of Equestria's diarchs appeared. Princess Luna took a few steps forward. "You all had best stand back" she said to the human soldiers. "This is a very powerful technique I am about to test out…"

She glowed and shifted into her human form, clad in glowing silver and dark-blue armor. She pressed her palms together and then slowly pulled them apart, and a pitch-black orb about the size of an eyeball floated between them. She held her hand out, and it shot up high into the sky. The Zerg Swarm grew ever closer, a few overeager Hydralisks and Mutalisks firing shots that went wide due to the distance. Then Luna formed a sequence of hand-seals, and spoke two words:

"_Chibaku Tensei_!"

The black sphere, now much larger, pulsed with power. Charging Zerg began to slow down as they and the ground beneath their feet were affected by the Gravity-type technique. The ground began to buckle upward, soon breaking loose and floating upwards – first small chunks, and gradually larger, all congregating around the gravity sphere. Before long, mounds of earth and stone the size of trucks were shooting up into the air, along with many Zerg. The beasts feebly tried to escape as the ground itself came apart beneath them, but they too were snatched up and pulled skyward, to be crushed to death upon reaching the growing sphere of material in the sky. Throughout all this, the humans stared in silent awe.

Soon, a gigantic sphere of earth, rock, and dead Zerg floated in the sky above a 'crater' where material was uprooted and ripped away. Luna focused her power, and with a flash of blue light the entire construct was teleported away into space, with a trajectory that would eventually carry it slowly into the system's star. She reverted to her normal alicorn form and stood in place, panting from exertion.

"I would say that was a successful field test" she said, looking up into the sky where the results of her technique had once been.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

Everyone gathered not too far from the outer borders of the Xel'Naga ruins site that Amon had claimed. Luna had been given a Senzu Bean to replace the chakra and mana she burned saving Team Crimson. Snacks, prayers, and good-luck kisses took place amongst the large group as everyone made ready for the final push.

"All right" Naruto said, Teana and Goku at his side. "Let's end this!"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: The battle against Amon


	5. Lighting the Encroaching Shadows

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Planet Ulnar**

**Day 4 – 13:30 Hours**

The large force of DDF heavy-hitters approached the central area of the Xel'Naga ruins. Thick cloud cover dulled the sunlight, the skies overcast as far as the eye could see. And there in the exact center of an altar up ahead, his back turned to them and his arms folded, was Amon.

"_**So Xehanort failed… And now he's run off to pursue his own agenda, and he took all three of the Unversed Lords with him. Ah, well; at least he and I want the same thing in the end. When all is Darkness, no matter which of us brings it about, we'll still share the 'prize'. But first, I have to deal with all of you…**_"

Everyone was nervous as they readied for the fight of their lives – Keyblades were summoned, Tailed Beast chakra was called upon, _Sharingan_ were activated, Nanoha and Jiraiya assumed Sage Mode with Shima and Fukasaku, respectively, and various other preparations. Goku, Naruto, Teana, Sora, Negi, and Nanoha stood at the head of the pack.

"Don't think we're going to go quietly" Goku said.

"_**Of course not. I fully expect you all to fight to your last breaths. Of course… it won't make much difference…**_"

"Even with all of us," Naruto whispered, "this is gonna be hellishly tough. He's as strong as Kurama, which means out of all of us, my Tailed Beast Mode's the only thing that can equal him, and I still can't maintain it for more than 15 minutes at a time. And he's probably agile and small enough that our big giant fox form wouldn't be able to land a blow strong enough to deal some real damage before time ran out."

"His eyes have shifted between me and Vegeta a few times" Goku said. "I don't think he's gonna give us the time and space needed to form Gogeta, so that's probably out too."

"So this is gonna suck no matter how you look at it" Teana surmised.

"It does look like this might be our toughest fight yet" Negi admitted. "But that doesn't mean we can just give in! We've got to all try with everything we have! For the sake of all our universes, we _have_ to win here!"

"Right!" Sora said. "This is to protect everything and everyone! No losing, no running!"

"We can't fail here!" Nanoha said. "We _won't_!"

Teana nodded. "All right. Let's make sure the Dark Voice is finally silenced!"

Suddenly, in twin bursts of Darkness, Narud, Slind, and The Meta appeared beside Amon.

"_**W**__e are ready to see this finished, Maste__**r**_" Narud said.

The Meta let out a soft growl in agreement.

"_**Very well. Then let us wipe our adversaries from the face of existence. Arise, beings of Darkness!**_"

A large horde of Demons and Heartless sprang up from the shadows throughout the ruins. They charged, Narud, The Meta, and Slind joining them, while Amon flew up into the airspace above the battlefield. Several people flew up in pursuit of the Fallen Xel'Naga to do battle with him: Goku & Vegeta, Nanoha & Fate, Signum, Reinforce, Precia, Teana, Negi & Evangeline, Sora (flying thanks to a helping of Pixie Dust he picked up in Neverland shortly before coming to Ulnar, just in case), Naruto & Sasuke (remember, they learned flight shortly before Walpurgis' attack in Book 18; sadly, there hasn't been enough time to teach Itachi or Jiraiya), and Celestia & Luna. Everyone else moved to fight the Darkling horde and the two high-level foes amongst them.

As the entity known as Narud rushed into the battle, he suddenly had to stop and duck to avoid a rapidly-spinning Keyblade thrown at him. The weapon teleported back to its owner, who now stood in his path. Erika looked deadly serious as she took a stance with the Stroke of Midnight, her green eyes brimming with conviction and courage. Narud smirked as he formed a crimson Psi-Blade on his right arm. They charged at each other.

Subaru stood before The Meta, joined by Agent Texas who was in a new, top-of-the-line combat-oriented magitech robot body made for her by Satomi Hakase from Mahora Academy and clad in black (with green accents) Mjolnir Mark-7 armor. The Meta snarled as he hefted his Brute Shot, a dark aura wavering around him. Subaru's own blue aura clung to her as well, and Tex punched her fists together.

"Time for some payback for what you did to me at Snowbound" she said.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka and Shion squared off with Slind, energy blades readied as the unnaturally tall and thin daemon, clad in his faceless full-body armor, readied his second set of arms. He let out a faint, low giggle as he focused on his prey. Ahsoka channeled lightning chakra through her lightsabers, while Shion's body flared green with Khan's chakra.

"You won't be able to feed off any fear from us" Shion said.

Slind 'responded' with a bizarre telepathy that was more sensed/'felt' than audibly processed: '_wE… __**s**__H__**A**__Ll… sE__**Ee**__E__**e**__…_'

Everyone else had to content themselves with fighting the horde of dark creatures Amon had summoned. Jiraiya, Aqua, and Shepard led them all in cutting the enemy's numbers down to size. In the sky above, powerful attacks were already being thrown around, mostly the DDF launching attacks that Amon blocked or countered; the fallen Xel'Naga was hardly attacking yet, choosing to play with the heroes and test how much they could dish out, though the few attacks he did make left them reeling more often than not.

Erika and Narud leapt back from each other, coming out of another clash of blades. Neither had managed to actually land a hit on the other yet, though not for lack of trying. Suddenly, Erika was startled by a red flash that rolled over Narud's body, as he assumed the form of Jail Scaglietti, except with glowing red eyes and the still-present red psi-blade. A black and red replica of Scaglietti's clawed glove formed on the other hand.

'H-He's a shapeshifter?' Erika thought. 'This could m-make things interesting…'

Scaglietti-form Narud charged at Erika, who brought the Stroke of Midnight up to block a downward swing of his psi-blade. She then twisted to the side to avoid a stab from his gauntlet's claws, and went for a leg sweep that almost got him but he leapt away just before it could connect. Erika then fired a Prism Rain attack, multicolored bolts of Light magic spiraling through the air and coming at Narud from several directions. He managed to block or dodge some of them, but about half hit him dead-on. He growled as his transformation wavered. Then he conjured and fired a wave of dark magic bolts, forcing Erika to take evasive actions, dodging and casting Reflega to protect herself. The moment she lowered the shield, Narud was there again, and Erika barely managed to block his strikes in time. So busy she was fending off his melee attacks, she did not notice the telekinetically-positioned 15-foot-long boulder hovering over her until Narud leapt back and let it drop. He smirked as he watched it fall toward her… but then a swirling blue sphere of energy formed in her hand, which she thrusted upward:

"_Rasengan_!"

The huge rock was blasted into dozens of pieces, leaving Erika unharmed.

"I'm s-so glad I had Teana and M-Master Jiraiya help me nail t-that technique before we came here" she said. "I've been w-working on it for a week now; t-they helped me perfect it, and just in t-time, too."

"**H**mp**h**" Scaglietti-Narud said. "**S**o you've got a new tric**k**. **T**hat's alrigh**t**. **I**'ve got something special planned for you, little miss Swanso**n**…"

Narud's body was again enveloped in a pulse of red light that rolled over his body, as he took another form. But this one made Erika's eyes go wide as she let out a slightly ragged gasp, the keychain dangling from the Stroke of Midnight's hilt rattling as her hands shook. Narud's new transformation stood tall, with a malicious grin that looked very out of place on the face he currently wore. Faintly glowing red eyes were the only imperfection, as Narud magically formed a black and red version of a Jiralhanae gravity hammer in his – _her_ – hand.

"**C**ome on, Erik**a**" 'Sarah' said. "**C**ome and 'play' with your big siste**r**…"

Launched grenades infused with Darkness exploded against Subaru's Shield spell or against the ground as she and Agent Texas dodged them while charging at The Meta. Subaru got there first, attacking with a Vibration Shatter boosted by Fenris' power. The Meta tossed up a (quickly broken through) Shield spell while leaping back, but even the brief glancing hit she landed left some damage to his armor's chestplate. Tex was next, engaging the Fallen Freelancer in a duel between her plasma sword and his Brute Shot's blade. She managed to score a hit on him, the superheated plasma blade cutting a glowing gash in the side of his armor. He snarled as he punched her back, the power of Darkness already working to slowly mend the damage to his flesh.

Slind leapt and twisted to narrowly dodge well-aimed bursts of Force Lightning from Ahsoka, the technique imbued with the Light Side of the Force and thus quite capable of causing harm to a being of Darkness such as him. Ahsoka finally cut off her barrage for the moment, and Slind then was blindsided by a chakra claw strike from Shion, whose green chakra cloak presently had four tails to it. The blow sent the daemon tumbling through the air, though he then used his 'arms' to arrest his flight by digging them into the ground, tearing four long parallel gashes into the rock as he brought himself to a stop. As soon as Slind was steady on his feet again, he held his four tentacle-like limbs out in front of him, and a sphere of seething Darkness power began to rapidly grow between the four tips. In response, Shion held her hands and chakra tails out, as positive black and negative white chakra gathered for a _Bijūdama_. Both attacks were fired at the same time, energy balls racing toward each other and meeting in the middle, trying to push past each other. They soon became unstable and detonated together in a massive explosion that blasted a 100-foot crater beneath the epicenter and drew the attention of nearly everyone on the battlefield.

Slind and Shion rushed at each other through the smoke and dust, clashing in a flurry of crushing melee strikes. Ahsoka leapt in, landing an X-slash with her lightsabers on Slind's back that staggered him, allowing Shion to hit him with an overhead axe-blow that sent him smashing into the ground. She then assumed her Version-2 state, stabbing her five black-and-green tails down into and through him, punching through his armor and body and pinning him to the ground. Slind shuddered and went still, and his body then melted away into particles of Darkness that sank into the ground and vanished.

Subaru skidded to a stop after blocking another of The Meta's blows. Tex could feel the magically-powered servos of her new body straining in the face of his monstrous strength, but she could still fight. The Meta made a low snarl as he slung his Brute Shot and drew his gravity hammer, and then charged at the duo. Subaru formed a full-strength Round Shield that still barely withstood the hammer's downward strike, and Tex then forced The Meta back with her plasma sword. He backhanded her away, and struck a few more times at Subaru's shield, breaking it with the fourth hit. He knocked her down before she could focus on and draw more of Fenris' chakra, and brought the hammer high…

Suddenly, something punched clean through The Meta's torso from behind, shattering his armor as it bored through his chest. It was a purple-tinted golden beam of energy with a second beam corkscrewing around it for drilling power. The Meta dropped his hammer and toppled backward, hitting the ground with a thud and rapidly fading away into motes of Darkness, armor and all. A tall figure walked up to Subaru, and a green-skinned hand helped her up.

"You okay?" the Namekian hero asked.

"Yeah" Subaru replied, taking a relieved breath. "Thanks, Piccolo-san."

Erika and Sarah-form-Narud continued their battle, his hammer swings and her Keyblade strikes clashing. Erika had quickly gotten it through her head that this was _not_ her beloved, motherly big sister (the glowing red eyes helped), and was giving it her all. But Narud had centuries of experience, and was very fast & agile, moving his hammer with speed the real Sarah would envy. Nonetheless, she was keeping him on his toes, attacking with ferocity and skill. She twisted around a hammer blow and landed a few Keyblade strikes, and then braced her arms to block a kick that pushed her back a little. Sarah-Narud then fired a shotgun-burst of Darkness bolts that Erika blocked with a Reflega, which she then made shatter outward, stunning the daemonic shapeshifter. Erika then landed a solid combo that ended with a magic-charged punch that sent him back, his hammer tumbling away through the air as he was knocked out of his transformation, returning to his default form.

"_**I**__mpressive, chil__**d**_" he said. "_**B**__ut that's not enoug__**h**__. __**I **__carry Lord Amon's power, and have carried out his will for millennia, while you are a child with a few fancy trick__**s**__. __**I**__ believe it is time to bring this to an end, little gir__**l**__._"

Narud formed his crimson psi-blade again, taking a stance as he prepared to charge. Erika's mind raced.

'I h-have to deal a serious blow to him to finish this. But he's f-fast, enough t-to dodge nearly anything I could hit him w-with. Unless… It's worth a shot. I've seen t-this exact setup me & Narud are in, in that one bit of archive backstory 'footage'. …H-He was a great hero, way stronger than I could ever be, probably. But that one takedown he used against Tobi… If this works…'

Erika and Narud charged, running toward each other. Erika threw the Stroke of Midnight horizontally in a Strike Raid, but Narud ducked under the whirling blade, letting it soar over his head. As they drew closer to each other, Erika formed a _Rasengan_ in her right hand, keeping her eyes on both Narud and the spinning Keyblade, which was returning in its boomerang path toward them from behind the daemon. Everything seemed to move in very slow motion as they reached right in front of each other. Narud's psi-blade moved in a rising stab, aimed right at Erika's heart. The spinning Keyblade passed over Narud's head, missing him, and the tip of his blade came within centimeters of Erika's chest.

'_**I **__wi__**n**__._'

Suddenly, Erika vanished, and instantaneously appeared directly over Narud. Her left hand gripped the handle of the Stroke of Midnight, and her right hand came down in the blink of an eye, slamming her _Rasengan_ down into Narud's back. Her blow hammered him down, so hard that the rocky ground shattered from the impact. A look of shock was frozen on Narud's face, as a look of complete focus and calm, angry determination was on Erika's.

'_**H**__er ability to teleport herself to her Keyblad__**e**__… __**S**__he had this planned from the star__**t**__!_'

Nearby, Kakashi Hatake took a break from Heartless-killing as he watched the duel's climax in mild awe.

'This girl, Erika-chan…' he thought. 'She's developed her ability to teleport herself to her Keyblade to the point where it's as fast as sensei's _Hiraishin no Jutsu_! This little girl… might have even more potential than we already assumed…'

Erika, propelled upward by the _Rasengan_'s detonation, landed in a kneeled pose with Keyblade held out, a few meters away. Several seconds later, Narud staggered to his feet amongst the dust, heavily wounded. He tore open a Dark Gateway and allowed himself to fall through it, definitively out of the fight. Erika straightened up, and then made a big grin as she realized what she'd accomplished. She took a deep breath and…

"Yay."

Before long, the last of the Darklings fell, and everyone clustered together. An oppressive force was suddenly felt by everyone as Amon descended from the sky, followed by the flyers who'd pursued him, who now mingled with their groundside fellows.

(MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden Movie 3 OST _– "Blind Animal")

"_**Foolish, prideful children… You stand before a god of darkness, motes of dust struggling against a hurricane. Your attempts to drive back the shadows are like candles trying to evaporate an ocean. Cease your meaningless struggles, and accept the sweet embrace of death.**_"

"I've already died twice" Goku said. "I don't intend to try it a third time."

"Even if by some chance we can't win," Nanoha said, "we're going to fight to the last breath, and make sure you hurt for it!"

"My friends and I defeated the 10-Tails" Naruto said. "It was stronger than you. We'll take you down, too!"

"We're going to make sure the Door to Ultimate Darkness stays locked up tight!" Sora said.

"You think yourself a god, Amon?" Teana said. "Well, let's try a little deicide."

"_**My, such confidence you all have… I will enjoy beating it out of you.**_"

[music kicks up]

With a sweeping wave of his arm, Amon unleashed a storm of Darkness blasts. Those who couldn't manifest a _Susanō_ or conjure a sufficiently strong Shield spell hid behind those who could, and when the barrage ceased everyone returned fire with their own attacks; _ki_ blasts, magic bursts, elemental attacks of all types, and more than a few projectile weapon shots all came flying at the Dark Voice from every direction. Amon held out his hands and used his formidable psionic powers to halt each and every thing thrown at him. Some made it a lot closer to him than others; for instance, an _Amaterasu_ Arrow from Sasuke and a Sage-enhanced Divine Buster from Nanoha were each less than 10 feet from his face. He would've frowned had he possessed a mouth, as he pulsed his power outward, neutralizing every held-back attack.

Negi and Fate (Testarossa) charged together, their bodies and Devices crackling with Lightning-type magic power. Negi formed and threw a _Bōfū no Rasensō _while Fate fired a Trident Smasher, the spiraling lightning spear and triple magic beam racing toward Amon. The Fallen Xel'Naga dodged the lightning spear and then crossed his arms in front of himself to brace against and block the triple-beam, which shoved him back a couple meters but accomplished little else. He retaliated with a powerful burst of Dark Lightning that the duo barely avoided, their hair standing on end from the proximity.

Two huge _senjutsu_-enhanced fireballs from Jiraiya and Nanoha were next, and Amon formed a spherical shield around himself to block the flames. As soon as the flames died down and he lowered the shield, the two Sages came charging in at him in person, lashing out with supercharged physical blows. Amon blocked the blows from their bodies and their sage auras, and then countered with a wide kick that sent them both flying; their Sage Mode durability protected them from serious harm, but it still hurt.

Celestia, Goku, Luna, and Vegeta came in from all sides, firing _ki_ and mana blasts at Amon. The Fallen One dodged or shielded against the shots, and then brought his massive arm up to block a kick aimed at his neck by SS2 Goku, followed by a barrage of melee strikes that he blocked, deflected, or simply stood there and tanked. Luna attacked from the other side, forming a gleaming silver blade as long as her whole body and telekinetically swinging it. Amon 'caught' the blade, telekinetically holding it an inch from his palm, and pushed back; the sword, forged by godly power, did not break or bend despite the pressure it was being subjected to, but Luna was unable to push it in to land a blow. Vegeta and Celestia started throwing blasts at him from in front and behind, and Amon growled as it actually started to sting. He released a pulse of power that knocked Goku and Luna away, and then fired two blasts at Celestia and Vegeta. They narrowly dodged, and the head-sized energy blasts shot past them into the distance at a high speed; seconds later, the bright lights of two considerably powerful explosions were visible on the opposite horizons.

Teana, Itachi, Tiida, and Sasuke were next, the last four Uchiha forming Stage-2 _Susanō_ and throwing a barrage of _Yasaka Magatama_ at the Dark Voice. The chakra projectiles exploded against Amon's shield, damaging but not breaking through it, and he responded by flying at Sasuke and lashing out with a punch that fractured his _Susanō _and sent him hurtling back; he used his spectral guardian's second pair of arms to slow his flight and regain control by digging them into the rocky ground and bleeding off momentum until he slowed to a stop. He channeled chakra into repairing his _Susanō_, while Itachi and Teana formed their Swords of Totsuka and swung the sealing blades at Amon, who – recognizing the weapons – flew upward to dodge and then fired _ki_ blasts that forced the two young warriors back. Tiida then nailed him in the face with a _Susanō _Chakra Arrow, but it did little damage, and Amon's retaliatory strike nearly broke through the spectral summon as he knocked Tiida way.

Madoka cast _Sagitta Lumis_, firing a single thick pink Light Arrow that split into a storm of dozens of smaller ones, exploding against Amon. He growled as the attack dealt a few surface wounds, and then fired an explosive energy blast at the girl. Before Homura could even react, the blast was sucked up by Kakashi's _Kamui_; the veteran shinobi then released it pointed right back at Amon, who – with some difficulty – redirected it out to the side; the blast impacted a mountain in the distance, blowing a good portion of its top to bits. A combined blast of Void energy from Zeratul and Shion struck Amon in the back, and the ancient daemon lord turned and fired a psionic shockwave at them. Zeratul teleported the both of them out of the way.

Naruto and Teana moved in together, the former in his golden Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and the latter with a Stage-0 _Susanō_ in the form of two large skeletal arms dual-wielding swords. The blades were swung and thrusted at Amon with surprising speed, but he parried with a large, dark red psi-blade formed over his right arm. Naruto then hit him with an _Ōdama Rasengan_, but it did less damage than he'd hoped. Amon swiftly grabbed Naruto and Teana, and then slammed them into each other like cymbals, stunning both of them. He then tossed them away with great force, sending them flying into the side of an old structure amongst the ruins. He focused power and then fired an energy blast at them. The blast obliterated the structure… but when the dust cleared, there was no sign of Naruto or Teana. The Dark Voice puzzled; surely that blast would not have been enough to vaporize them, merely kill them. So where were their bodies? They must've escaped somehow, he thought. His musings were cut short as he had to dodge a _Kienzan_ aimed at his neck.

Far up, just above the layer of clouds that covered the battlefield, three figures hovered. The oldest, having rescued the other two, knew that there was one thing that could possibly defeat Amon. Dispelling his golden transformation, he held his hands high and closed his eyes in focus. Down below, everyone heard his voice in their heads.

'_Living things across the system, friends down below…_' Goku said telepathically. '_Please, lend me your energy._'

As everyone gradually realized what this meant, they all began donating a portion of their energy even as they continued to fight Amon, now aiming to keep him busy, distract him from what would soon be growing far above him.

"_Katon: Daiendan_!"

Jiraiya's _senjutsu_-enhanced massive flame attack engulfed Amon, the oil- and wind-fed flames forming a massive conflagration. A pulse of psionic power knocked the flames out, revealing a slightly-scorched and slightly-annoyed Amon who promptly charged at Jiraiya, whose Sage Mode speed was still barely enough to get him out of the way of a punch that would've killed him. Amon was then blindsided by an Ox-Horn Lariat from Killer Bee, currently in his Version-2 state, that sent him tumbling back. A _Bijūdama _was next, the explosion consuming the Fallen Xel'Naga. After a few seconds, though, he came soaring out of the smoke and dust, and dealt a blow that sent Bee hurtling through the air.

Up above, the three worked together to gather power; one had already assumed his own transformation to speed the process along and add some Natural Energy to it. As they focused, they telepathically conversed.

'You really think this will work?'

'It's our best hope at this point. If we can hit him with it, it should probably be enough.'

'I don't know. If we're gonna be smacking him with a huge ball of energy, it might be too spread out to do the job.'

'What do you suggest?'

'We find a way to focus it somehow – compress it, maybe, to boost the power and yield. …Kurama, do you have any ideas?'

'**As a matter of fact, I do…**'

Down below, the fight continued. Everything the DDF's warriors hit Amon with, he shrugged off, and his counterattacks left them fighting for their lives. Mai had all six tails' worth of her Tailed-Beast chakra out and ready, as Killer Bee came up beside her.

'_BEE, BUMP FISTS WITH HER_' Gyūki ordered.

"A'ight" the rapping shinobi replied.

He walked up to Mai's side and held out his fist, and after a couple seconds' confusion Mai returned the gesture. Her eyes widened as she felt the presence of the _real_ 8-Tails, the source of her power.

"_YOU'RE PRETTY STRONG FOR A TYPE-2 JINCHŪRIKI. AND YOU'VE PROVEN YOURSELF A SKILLED WIELDER OF THAT PARCEL OF MY CHAKRA, AS WELL AS A GOOD PERSON. I THINK IT'S TIME YOU GOT AN UPGRADE…_"

Mai's body trembled as she felt power flow into her.

"_THERE WE GO. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE ALL EIGHT TAILS' WORTH OF POWER, AS WELL AS ENTER A VERSION-2 STATE. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO ASSUME MY FORM LIKE BEE CAN, SINCE YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ME SEALED INSIDE YOU, BUT YOU SHOULD BE AT LEAST A LITTLE MORE CAPABLE NOW._"

"T-Thank you, Gyūki-sama."

"_NO PROBLEM, KID. NOW, LET'S KEEP THIS BASTARD BUSY WHILE THE SAIYAN READIES HIS TRUMP CARD._"

The connection broke, and then both Bee & Mai assumed eight-tailed Version-2 states. They nodded to each other, and then rushed into battle together.

The fighting continued for another few minutes, nobody managing to actually gain the upper hand against Amon. Kakashi knelt beside Celestia, both of them panting lightly from tiredness after using so much energy.

"Everything we hit him with, he withstands" Celestia said. "Can we really be sure Goku's technique will work?"

"There's only one way to find out, milady" Kakashi replied. He then looked around. "Hey… Where are Naruto and Teana?"

Amon would've smirked, if he had a mouth. Nothing these insects had at their disposal was even close to being enough to defeat him. He mentally sighed as he realized it was starting to get a little boring. He might as well start finishing them off now. He was about to begin forming a blast that would've wiped out their entire little 'army', when his attention – along with everyone else's – was drawn to a bluish glow in the sky above, shining down through the thick, grey clouds. A curious sound accompanied it, like a continuous vibrating bell's tone. In the clouds above the ruins, there was the image of a massive four-pointed blue star, slowly spinning.

Then, at the center of the projection, the clouds parted in a circular hole that went all the way through. A large spinning bluish-white disk of sorts, at least 50 feet across, was slowly descending, supported by three figures – Goku, Naruto, and Teana. The power of the Spirit Bomb, supplemented by _senjutsu_, had been hyper-compressed into a rapidly-spinning mass of energy, in the form of a familiar technique. As everyone else began clearing the area, getting distance from the Fallen Xel'Naga, Amon's glowing red eyes widened in shock and fear.

'_**That much power, focused into that specific technique… Even I wouldn't survive being hit by that! …I need to leave, immediately. So much for finishing these bugs off now; oh well, there's always next time…**_'

Amon focused his power, beginning to call upon a Dark Gateway to retreat through as the trio continued to descend towards him.

(MUSIC – YOUR CHOICE: Either "Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS OST – _Ryūsei no Shashu _(Teana's Theme)" or "Naruto Shippūden Movie 3 OST – God of War (0:00 to 1:57)")

Suddenly, glowing bonds of Holy Light formed from out of nowhere around Amon, holding him in place and cancelling out his attempted forming of a Dark Gateway.

"**What? What is this?-!**"

Several spectral figures appeared in his mind's eye, including Sayuri & Tarlis Lanstar, Amicitia & Mortis, the 'Twilight Templar' Tassadar, and two alicorns who looked to be formed from pure Light and the Night Sky itself.

"There Will Be No Escape This Time, Fallen One" the Father Of All Alicorns spoke.

"You're not going anywhere" Sayuri said.

"_You will be returned to the Void whence you came!_" Tassadar said.

The images faded, revealing to Amon that Goku, Naruto, and Teana were now much closer. Panicking, he formed in front of himself the most powerful Shield spell he could muster.

"Take this!" the trio cried out. "_FŪTON: KYODAI RASENSHURIKEN!-!-!_"

Upon the attack's impact with the shield, everything seemed to darken except a surging beam of light projecting outward around the shield. The Dark Voice's last defense began to crack and warp under the strain, and finally it was broken through with the sound of shattering glass, and the attack connected.

Amon screamed as the Spirit Bomb Rasenshuriken ground into him, the billions of microscopic energy blades already beginning to slice him apart. At the same time, Goku, Naruto, and Teana cried out as they pushed it further. Finally, the attack 'detonated'. An utterly gigantic dome of swirling light erupted, engulfing the entire ruins site. It shone with a brilliant bluish-white light, its edges glowing the colors of the rainbow. The wind it kicked up blew everything away, people struggling to hold onto something. At the epicenter, Amon's body was completely obliterated, ripped apart at its most basic levels.

At the outskirts of the blast wave zone, a purple _Susanō_ arm caught Naruto as he came flying out, pulling him close into shelter.

"Only you would pull something like this, _dobé_" Sasuke said, his voice raised to be heard over the howling wind. "I'm not complaining, though… this time."

When the swirling dome of energy and accompanying wind finally faded away, everyone came out of cover. The clouds had been blown away by the storm of power, letting the sun shine down. Where the Dark Voice and the Xel'Naga ruins once were, there was now an utterly humongous crater, the earth gouged out in a perfect half-sphere. Those with sensory abilities confirmed it: Amon was no more. Everyone soon gathered along the crater's edge. Vegeta supported a very tired but grinning Goku.

"Where's Teana?" Nanoha asked.

"She's over here!"

(MUSIC: Nanoha StrikerS OST – "_Yasuragi no Hitotoki_"; continues after coming Scene-Break)

Everyone turned to see a smiling Subaru walking toward them, carrying Teana bridal-style. The redhead looked scratched up and exhausted, but she had a triumphant little smile on her face as they all ran up to her.

"Did we get him?" Teana asked weakly.

"Yeah" Naruto replied. "Yeah, we got him. How you holdin' up?"

"I'm totally wiped, and my arm's a little sore, but other than that I'm okay." She snuggled closer to Subaru, smiling contentedly. "We won. …I'm gonna go sleepy now…"

And just like that, Teana dozed off in Subaru's arms, a cute little smile on her face. Shamal came up to her, running a glowing hand over her body.

"She's fine" the doctor-mage said. "Totally exhausted, with some easily-repairable light damage to the arm she used the technique with, and that's it. She just needs some rest."

"I think I'll join her" Naruto said. "Kurama's the only reason I'm still on my feet right now; I'd be passed out too if he weren't giving me a bit of a boost at the moment."

"**Hmph. Doubtful**" the Nine-Tails' voice was heard. "**You're so stupidly determined, you'd probably still be on your feet if you were **_**dead**_**.**"

"I'm used to this kinda stuff" Goku said. "But yeah, I'm bushed, too. I feel about ready to fall over any second."

"Alright, then" Nanoha said. "Let's all head back to base, get patched up, and then start planning the celebration."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

That evening, there was what could best be described as a small carnival set up around the landing zone, with a few dedicated dancing areas, plenty of food, and merriment abundant. Teana, Goku, and Naruto were getting congratulations of all types everywhere they went, praise for slaying the daemon lord who'd caused so much trouble.

Erika Swanson sat on a makeshift bench, kicking her legs back & forth; Timmy and Mariko were off getting some snacks for her and them, and would be back in a couple minutes. She reflected on the things she'd been through since the battle ended. Kakashi and Jiraiya had come to her with praise for replicating the Fourth Hokage's finishing combo, even offering to give her a little supplemental training if she wanted. Also, she had spent a surprising amount of time with Kaede Kanade, bonding with the stoic Diclonius over – of all things – a shared liking of _Legend of Zelda_ games. Poor Kaede's life events had, however, left her unable to play any games made past the _Oracle_ duology. …So Erika had lend her _Wind Waker_ and _Twilight Princess_, and had promptly received a grateful hug (thankfully, being in a three-way relationship with Timmy & Mariko had left her used to vector-assisted hugs, so she didn't freak out).

"Hey, Erika!"

She startled, hearing a new voice that sounded young yet strangely familiar. She turned to look, and then gasped as she spotted a pair of magically-de-aged (thanks to borrowing some of Evangeline McDowell's age pills) 11-year-olds – one shorter with long brown hair, the other taller with golden-blonde, and both with green eyes like hers.

"S-Sarah? M-Marie? What…?"

"We wanted to hang out with you as 'equals' for once," Marie said, "rather than big sisters. …Besides, mama's been suggesting to Sarah that she take some time off to shelve her responsibilities and let herself be a kid for a while now. We figured actually _being_ a kid would help her with that."

"Are… you okay with us spending time with you like this?" Sarah asked, sounding unusually uncertain and nervous.

Erika smiled as she hopped down and hugged them both (feeling a brief flash of annoyance that she was still a little shorter than them). "S-Sure!" she said with a big smile. "I'd love that! I, uh… h-hope you don't mind tagging along w-with Timmy and Mariko too, though. A fair warning; w-we three can get a little…" she blushed "snuggly and c-cutesy and lovey-dovey with each other k-kinda often… Laicixa and E-Erio and Caro are used to it and t-think it's cute, and s-sometimes Erio & Caro get like that too, but…"

Sarah giggled. "No problem! You three can be as cute together as you want; we won't mind!"

"Right" Marie nodded. "So what should we do first?"

"Well… T-Timmy & Mariko went to get some snacks, and then w-we were gonna try some of the games together!"

"Sounds like fun" little Sarah replied. "…You think _they'll _mind us?"

"Nah. T-They'll be glad to have you two along!"

They'd be back to their 'normal' roles when the day was over, but for now Sarah & Marie were little kids again, they & Erika hanging out as Best Sister Friends Forever.

Elsewhere, Jason Shepard leaned against a wall, munching on some caramel corn. His attention was drawn to an old friend hobbling up.

"Hey, Joker" he asked. "Enjoying the festivities?"

"Yeah," the pilot replied, "but sorry to say you won't be for much longer. I just got a call from Admiral Hackett. He wants to speak with you ASAP, says it's urgent and for your ears only."

Shepard sighed. "I'll head up to the _Normandy_. You stay down here and enjoy yourself for a while, Joker. You've earned some shore leave. …Trouble can't help but find me, I guess…"

"Yeah, you're pretty much one of the universe's go-to guys for crazy shit. See ya, Commander."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**KH 'Verse**

**Unknown Location – Thrones of the 13**

Master Xehanort sat atop one of the 13 tall white thrones that formed a circle in the large room. Several other hooded figures were seated in other thrones.

"Amon has fallen" he spoke aloud, his gravelly old voice carrying through the white room. "It is now up to us to bring about the Ultimate Darkness. But we now have a little extra help. Ruin has most graciously offered to aid our cause," he gestured to the monster-with-the-body-of-a-little-girl seated between Malia and Checker in one of the thrones, who nodded to him, "and we also have the remains of another warrior of Darkness, ready to add their strength to ours…"

Through the door walked two armored figures, side by side. Both wore white full-body armor, though one had black portions along his armor and a red face visor, while the other's armor was pure white except for a black symbol in the center of the chest, with a pale orange visor. As the human-form Heartless and Nobody of The Meta stood before him, Master Xehanort allowed himself a small, subdued smirk.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**SC-Verse**

**Unknown Location Within The Void**

Power surged and converged in the center of the chamber. In a flash of light and a burst of Darkness, Amon returned to existence, falling to one knee. He raised his head and observed the now-faded repository of energy.

"_**The energy released by the Xel'Naga artifact that purified the Queen of Blades… A very clever contingency plan, my faithful second.**_"

"_**I**__t never hurts to be prepared, My Lor__**d**_" Narud replied as he walked forward, a slight limp to his step as he still bore the wounds Erika had dealt him. "_**W**__hen Raynor unleashed the artifact's power, Hybrids were standing by to gather the cast-off excess energ__**y**__. __**I **__kept it here in the event of your death, to be used to resurrect yo__**u**__. __**U**__nfortunately, the resurrection is… not perfec__**t**__._"

"_**Indeed. Though quite powerful, this body is… less so than my previous one. It will take centuries to regain my full ability. And I will be constrained to The Void and the realm that the Xel'Naga and their children, the Zerg and Protoss, call home; I won't be able to hunt down those who slew me, or travel to the Heartless' Realm of Darkness to gather minions from there, until I have regained that lost power over time. …What of Slind?**_"

"_**H**__e has retired to his home realm, to mend his wounds and feed off of humans' fear to regain his strengt__**h**__. __**H**__e will be unavailable for some tim__**e**__._"

The Dark Voice walked over to his throne, sitting down in it and digging his claws into the stone armrests.

"_**Hmm. …This is all quite the setback. But it is only just that: a setback, a temporary roadblock in our plans. Those fools have pushed back the Darkness for now, but their lights cannot burn forever. And when they do fade… Narud, return to your 'little project' at Skygeirr Station; oversee its completion.**_"

"_**Y**__es, My Lor__**d**_…"

As Narud faded away, the much-reduced Amon leaned back in his throne.

"_**Ah, well. Plan B, then.**_"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Chapter: The events of the Mass Effect 2 DLC "Arrival", with a few twists.


	6. Arrival

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

_**Normandy-2**_

**Shepard's Private Quarters**

Commander Jason Shepard walked up to his desk, standing before the glass screen of the display case holding his sizable collection of model ships. He pressed a few buttons, and the glass darkened as a holographic vid-screen appeared over/on it, showing the aged, scarred face of Systems Alliance Admiral Steven Hackett.

"_Commander, thank you for your time. I'll keep this brief. We have a deep-cover operative out in Batarian space. Her name's Dr. Amanda Kenson. Dr. Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion._"

"So why call me?" Shepard asked.

"_Just this morning, I received word that the Batarians arrested her. They're holding her on a secret prison outpost on terrorism charges. I need you to infiltrate the prison and get her out of there. As a favor to me, I'm asking you to go in alone._"

"What is Dr. Kenson actually doing out there?"

"_She's a deep-cover operative, Shepard. We talk only when we have to. I'd heard she was investigating a rumor of a Reaper artifact in the system. Her last report said she'd found it._"

"What else can you tell me about her?"

"_Amanda's a top scientist and an Alliance agent, working in Batarian space. It's a dangerous assignment, and she's one of the few up to the challenge. She and I go back pretty far, Commander. I won't let her rot away in a Batarian torture camp._"

"I thought the Alliance denies the Reaper threat. That must be some proof she found."

"_The Alliance council denies the Reapers, Shepard; I and a good chunk of the military, however, believe you wholeheartedly. Kenson's team found an artifact in Batarian space. She believes it's a Reaper device, proof that the Reapers are indeed planning to invade, and soon. I've known her a long time; if she says she has proof, it's worth checking out._"

"The Batarians won't take kindly to the Alliance breaking into a secret prison."

"_This is not an Alliance operation. It's one person going in alone to save a friend. If it were an official mission, of course the Batarians would be upset. You keep this quiet, Shepard, and there's nothin' to worry about._"

"I'll make this a priority."

"_The prison is hidden underground at a Batarian outpost on Arataht. I'll upload the coordinates to the _Normandy_ now. Once she's secure, confirm her discovery. We'll debrief you when you're back._"

"Got it. The DDF recently installed a camera in my helmet; we can use the footage it captures in the debrief."

"_Looking forward to it. Hackett out._"

**-**_**SCENE-BREAK**_**-**

**ME-Verse**

**Viper Nebula → Bahak System → Aratoht**

**DATA: **"_'Like Mount Everest inside an oven' was how __Jon Grissom__ characterized Aratoht while on an __Alliance__ fact-finding mission to see if the garden world was worth contestation with the __Batarians__. His team ultimately decided that the planet's air pressure and oxygen content were too low for large-scale __human__ habitation, ending a year-long political battle with the Batarians and the __Citadel Council__'s Committee on Habitable Worlds. Since then, the Batarian Hegemony has quietly colonized the planet's polar regions, where the heat is manageable due to heavy rainfall. _

_Information on the colony itself is restricted by the Hegemony's Department of Information Control, but a few facts are known. A large-scale operation to increase the oxygen content of the planet is underway: skilled workers constantly dump cyanobacteria into the oceans and seed the habitable zone with invasive plant species. Slave labor is largely reserved for the planet's extensive mining industry, which takes advantage of the high-density planet's rich lodes of ferrous and heavy metals. Alliance intelligence has also confirmed that the colony is home to several Batarian military installations, a threatening sign for a planet this close to __Earth__'s local cluster and the __Exodus__ Relay. Its infrastructure includes many satellites and several space stations. _

_EDI'S TRAVEL ADVISORY: The Batarian Hegemony considers any presence of Alliance military vessels in Batarian space as hostile. The _Normandy-2_, while an independent vessel, strongly resembles the _Normandy SR1_, an __Alliance__ ship. Use of stealth systems is highly recommended._"

**CODEX: **"_'Nothing is impossible,' says the Hegemony propaganda poster that depicts a muscular __Batarian__ miner under an Aratoht sky, his rebreather held away from his face as if he's just taken it off. The image sums up millions of man-hours of labor on the Batarian planet and represents (or misrepresents) much of its history. Two decades ago, Aratoht, like several planets in the __Skyllian Verge__, was claimed by both __human__ and Batarian governments, but the __Alliance__ backed out after learning about the atmosphere's dangerously low pressure and oxygen levels. Instead, they concentrated their colonial efforts on planets that could support human life without the aid of domed habitats and rebreathers. Human governments saw it as a wise move; Batarians saw it as cowardly. _

_The Batarians rose to the colonization challenge, shipping in large numbers of laborers. They took the high financial costs and casualties due to accidents or logistical snafus in stride. Large-scale dumping of cyanobacteria has increased the oxygen in the atmosphere by a fraction of one percent, a modest increase that the Hegemony trumpets as a sign of their eventual victory. Short-term profits on Aratoht are largely made in the minerals sector through mining the extremely metal-rich planetary crust. The dark side to the mining does not appear on the propaganda poster - the majority of laborers are indentured servants or slaves. _

_Aratoht is rumored to have military bases on its surface and throughout its solar system, though details are heavily restricted by the Hegemony's Ministry of Information Control. Human merchant ships rarely come to the planet, outcompeted by local companies that benefit from heavy economic protections. The average Aratoht citizen only sees humans on the news, usually featured in stories of trials and executions of accused spies._"

The stealth-outfitted UT47 'Kodiak' shuttle descended through the heavy rains, the darkness and noise of the storm further masking its approach as it settled in a small courtyard outside a side entrance to the facility. From the dropship emerged Commander Shepard, suited up in full armor with his helmet's new recording function switched on. The Kodiak flew away, and Shepard walked up to the door. Shepard used his Omnitool to cut the power to the door, and moved inside.

The inside was a rocky subterranean passageway with a low ceiling, metal grating and thick pipes running along the walls. Up ahead there was a hole in the floor, with an extendable bridge waiting to be activated. However, activating the controls resulted in a burst of sparks. Looking around, Shepard went left, down a ramp to the level below. A varren waited for him, and was put down by a single pistol shot. Another control panel led up to the bridge above, and this one worked as designed, extending the walkway. Shepard headed back upstairs and across the gap. He headed upstairs to a higher level, finding a hallway with several trip lasers running across it. Holes in the walls and floor were all over the place.

'This place is run-down, even for a prison' he thought.

Another varren came in from a passageway on the left, and Shepard killed it by Biotically slamming it into a metal pipe, breaking its neck. He cut the power for the lasers and went left, heading around the bend and approaching another laser-barred doorway that revealed a door on the other side. Shepard quickly hid behind a wall as a Batarian guard shoved a handcuffed human along.

"Get the human into questioning" one of the Batarians said.

"Get your hands off me!" Dr. Kenson snapped, as she was pushed into the room, the door closing behind her.

There was no way Shepard could get past the lasers quietly, so he'd have to go the long way around. He headed right, down another hallway. A wall blocked his way, but it was cracked and damaged, and a gas pipe ran across the top of it. Shepard shot the pressurized pipe, and the resulting blast punched a hole through the wall big enough for him to fit through (once he turned off the gas valve to stop the spewing flames, that is). In the next hallway, another broken pipe spewed flames from two different holes, and Shepard redirected the gas flow to move through, reaching a small personal quarters area with an audio recording in a datapad on the table:

"_I hear humans are scurrying like vermin out in the asteroid belt. Is anywhere safe from them? We should arm a mission to flush them all out._"

Shepard doubled back, heading to the end of the left-side hallway and up a ramp into another part of the prison. His cybernetically-enhanced hearing picked up a conversation on the other side of a nearby closed door:

"They wanted to slam an asteroid into the Mass Relay" a Batarian said.

"Can they even do that?" another asked.

"What difference does it make? We caught 'em."

Shepard headed outside, the raindrops bouncing off his energy shield. The small courtyard had his destination at the top of a platform that had a truck parked next to it, a few trip-lasers running across the gap, and two more guards conversing off to the left.

"They've still got her down in the prison."

"I'd just kill her. Interrogating a human is a waste of time."

Shepard cut the power for the lasers and used the flatbed truck to get up to the door, quietly slipping through. He passed through the structure and out the other end, heading up some stairs to enter another building. A hallway curved around an inner room; the blinds were down and closed, but an open doorway was halfway through, showing two Batarians talking.

"No way it would've worked. Relays can't be damaged, much less destroyed."

"Those humans will do anything to destroy us, I swear. We have to make an example of this one to the others. We can't respond kindly to terrorists."

Thankfully, the guards were looking out a window at the hangar below, and Shepard was able to slip past and keep going. A shuttle flew into the hangar, while Shepard slipped through a door on the left into a cargo room of some sort. He leaned against a locked far-side door near the crane controls.

"I heard an artifact was found in the asteroid belt. Think the humans got it?"

"If they did, they'd have swarmed in and put flags all over it."

Shepard hopped down, triggering the controls for the vehicle lift holding another parked truck. He used the vehicle as stairs to make his way down a level, sending the lift back up once he was down. The next door led to another long hallway with a trip-wire laser set, as well as a small office post with another recorded audio-log:

"_Our comm. buoy intercepts paid off. We picked up a message to the Alliance coming from somewhere in the asteroid belt. We listened to the feed until we discovered an operation run by a human named Kenson – smuggling engine parts and guidance systems into the Bahak System from Omega. We intercepted Kenson's vessel and took her & her people into custody. Interrogation has produced nothing but frenzied ramblings so far._"

Shepard cut the power for the lasers and moved on, passing a room where two more guards were talking while looking at a screen ("This one's apparently the mastermind." "If she doesn't talk, kill her."). He moved down another hallway at the end, finally reaching the door to Kenson's interrogation room. He quietly moved in, and dealt a knockout blow to the lone Batarian guard inside.

"Who are you?" Dr. Kenson asked as Shepard went to free her. "What are you doing?"

"Dr. Kenson? I'm Commander Jason Shepard. I'm here to get you out."

"Shepard? I'd heard you were alive. Hackett must have received my message."

"We're not safe here. Can you walk?"

The restraints came loose, setting Kenson free.

"I'm fine" she replied. "Just give me a moment."

"We have to go, _now_."

"If we can find a console," she said as she took the unconscious guard's pistol, "I can hack security – make us an escape path."

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring; they'd been discovered.

"Then we'll find one" Shepard said. "Go!"

As the first armed guard came running down the hallway, Shepard popped out through the doorway and shot him three times in the chest with armor-piercing rounds, taking him down. They moved down the hall and into a large circular room with an elevator shaft taking up most of the center, and a handful of guards manning the level. Shepard sent out a Combat Drone to help him clear the way, using his Tempest SMG to gun down the guards while also using Biotics to toss a couple down the elevator shaft. He tossed a frag grenade into the control room, killing two unshielded guards and downing the shields of the third guard; a shot from Kenson's pistol took that guard out. They hurried into the control room, Kenson running into a side room and getting to work on a terminal.

"They know we're here" she said. "Keep them off me while I hack us a way out."

Before long the guards came storming in. Shepard sent out another Combat Drone as he pushed through them to reach the door he & Kenson came in through, sealing it shut, and then fought his way back to the control room, backhanding the last guard over the edge.

The next several minutes were spent holding the line, Shepard using Biotics and traps to thin the enemy's numbers as they kept coming, up the small elevators from below. Finally, the large central elevator arrived, and Shepard & Kenson boarded it, heading up to the hangar.

"Oh, one last thing" Kenson said. "The hangar doors are hardlocked. We'll have to get those the old-fashioned way."

"Leave that to me" Shepard replied.

They soon reached the hangar, finding a multitude of guards waiting for them. Shepard did what he did best, using his Predator and his Arc Projector to carve through the hostile Batarians, backed up by Kenson's supporting pistol fire. When the way was clear, Shepard shot the hard-locks on the hangar door, destroying them and opening the door. He and Kenson climbed aboard the Hegemony-owned Kodiak shuttle and started her up. More guards came rushing into the hangar, but they were too late, their bullets bouncing off of the Kodiak's armor plating as it shot out of the hangar and up into the sky.

-_Mini-Break_-

"Engaging autopilot" Kenson reported as the shuttle sped through space. "We should be well out of range before they get their security measures unscrambled."

"Do you think they'll come after you?" Shepard asked.

"I'm not taking any chances. Batarians don't take kindly to humans who plan to destroy their Mass Relays."

"So the charges against you are true."

"Well, to be fair, that's about half the story. My people and I were here investigating rumors of Reaper technology out in the fringes of this system."

"I guess you found something, right?"

"We found proof that the Reapers will be arriving in this system. When they get here, they'll use its Mass Relay to travel throughout the galaxy. We call it the Alpha Relay." She gazed out the window at the blue-and-silver Mass Relay in the distance. "From here, the Reapers can invade anywhere in the galaxy."

"So you decided to destroy it."

"Exactly. Doing that would stop the Reapers' invasion. Even at FTL speeds, it'd be months or years before they got to the next Relay. We came up with what we just call 'The Project': a plan to launch a nearby asteroid into the Relay and destroy it before the Reapers could arrive. Of course, the resulting explosion would probably wipe out this system."

"I've always heard that Mass Relays are indestructible."

"I've heard that too. But I think it's more that nobody's willing to find out what happens when one is destroyed. And, well… We plan to slam a hunk of rock and iron the size of Mt. Everest into the thing at very high speed. By our calculations, that's more than enough."

"Why do you think destroying the Relay will destroy the entire system?"

"Mass Relays are the most powerful mass-effect engines in the known galaxy. The energy released from a Relay's destruction would likely be on par with a supernova. This is a remote system, but just over 300,000 Batarians live on the colony where they held us. The explosion will undoubtedly kill them all."

"How did you plan to launch an asteroid into the Relay?"

"Moving an asteroid just requires thrust and guidance, which are readily available in Omega's salvage yards. Get the right amount of power and a good VI to drive it, and you can pretty much just point and 'shoot'."

"Is the Project still operational?"

"I… I imagine it is. We were one button-press away from launch when the Batarians arrested me."

"How were you caught?"

"We've been smuggling starship parts from Omega – thrusters, guidance, an aftermarket Eezo core. The Batarians thought that looked suspicious. A few days ago, I took a few men on a scouting trip, and the Batarians pounced on us. They never found our actual base."

"I still don't see how you learned about this supposed 'imminent invasion'."

"The evidence came from what we call Object Rho, a Reaper artifact we discovered among the asteroids near the Relay itself. When we get back to Arcturus Station, I'll explain everything and provide copies of all our notes on the artifact."

"What is a Reaper artifact doing in an asteroid?"

"We don't know, or even what its purpose is. Some things are just too old or large to comprehend. Even a Reaper thousands of years dead contains power. Their artifacts are worthy of study, regardless of their purpose."

"How exactly does it give you proof of an imminent invasion?"

"It showed me visions of the Reapers' arrival, much like your Prothean beacon did, I imagine. The Reapers are coming, Commander. That much I know for certain."

"If you're working near a Reaper artifact, how are you avoiding Indoctrination?"

"We've been very careful. We know what we're dealing with. You're not speaking to a child, Shepard. I saw what Sovereign did at the Citadel. Trust me – I know what's at stake."

"…The stakes are too high. If you were willing to destroy a whole star system over this, I want to see your proof."

"I guess I can't argue with that. Give me a moment. Kenson to Project Base."

"_Good to hear your voice, Doctor. You coming home?_"

"Affirmative, and I've got Commander Shepard with me."

"_Shepard? Really?_"

"Tidy up the lab. The Commander needs to confirm the artifact."

"_Right. I'll get everything set up for your arrival. Project base out._"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

The shuttle flew into the main hangar of the facility built into the asteroid's surface. Once the hangar doors were sealed, the little ship opened up, and Shepard & Kenson stepped out.

"Here we are" Dr. Kenson said. "Welcome to Project Base."

A clock was displayed over the doorway, counting down; it presently showed two days, three hours, 25 minutes, and 27 seconds, counting down second by second as Shepard watched.

"What's this?" Shepard asked.

"That's our countdown to Arrival. When that gets to zero, the Reapers will have come. Just over two days and counting. Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?"

"How do you know it's accurate?"

"The artifact has been giving off pulses at definite intervals since we found it. The intervals have been decreasing at a steady rate. The artifact is reacting to the Reapers' proximity. In just over 51 hours, the pulses will become constant, and the Reapers will be here."

"They could be at Earth in two days? There's no time to waste."

"Then let's show you that proof. The artifact is in our central lab area. Follow me."

Kenson led Shepard through the rooms and hallways, past numerous Project staff.

"So," Shepard said, "what would it take to get The Project back up and running?"

"Everything was in place when we were arrested" Kenson replied. "It wasn't a question of 'could we', but 'should we'."

"What alternative do we have?"

"The Reapers will reach this system, regardless. But the Alpha Relay is their shortcut to the rest of the galaxy. If you want to delay them, throw a huge roadblock in their path, this Relay must be destroyed."

They went down a floor, reaching the entrance to the lab. The door was unlocked and the duo stepped in. There, standing at least 30 feet tall in the center of the room, was a huge, vaguely crown-shaped structure of gleaming black metal with glowing blue lines, a blue and black light pulsing in its center like a giant heartbeat.

"Commander Shepard, I present to you Object Rho."

Shepard's eyes steadily widened. "…You have the Reaper artifact just sitting here… out in the open?"

"When we found it," Kenson stared into the artifact, "it showed me a vision of the Reapers' arrival."

"Kenson… This is _not good_."

"Give it a moment, Shepard. It'll give you the proof you need…"

Shepard was suddenly struck by a vision forcing its way into his brain, of a horde of Reapers converging on the Alpha Relay. He fell to his hands & knees, and as soon as it passed he found a gun being pointed at his head.

"I can't let you start the Project, Shepard" Dr. Kenson said. "I can't let you stop their arrival!"

Project guards, their minds gripped by Indoctrination just like Kenson's, came running in from the far door. Shepard lunged for Kenson's weapon arm, breaking her wrist, and then dove into cover as the guards opened fire on him, Kenson hurrying out of the room. Shepard took cover behind the waist-high barrier that surrounded Object Rho, and started returning fire, killing two Indoctrinated Guards before ducking back down again.

"_Don't make this difficult, Shepard_" Dr. Kenson radioed over the room's speakers.

"**Do not resist**" Object Rho 'spoke'. "**Give yourself over and be spared.**"

Shepard fired an Incinerate that took down two close-together guards, and used his Viper to snipe a shielded one trying to get an angle on him from the far side. His Predator and Tempest took down several more, aided by a few Warps tossed out. Another Incinerate detonated the fuel pack of a flamethrower-wielding soldier, killing him and another guard near him.

"_We don't want to hurt you, Commander. Lay down your weapons!_"

"**Your galaxy is in sight. Your final days are at hand.**"

Shepard sent out his Combat Drone, drawing some of the hostiles' fire and allowing him to pick them off. An enemy Engineer joined the fight, but Shepard drained his shields with an Overload and then blew his brains out with a snipe-shot. He tossed out a Singularity that snatched up three Indoctrinated guards, leaving them helpless to a barrage of SMG fire. The glow on Object Rho was steadily brightening.

"_This will only get worse for you, Shepard._"

"**The end of your species will come.**"

The enemy kept coming, more Engineers and Flamers added to the mix; Shepard's Overload and Incinerate modules were put to the test. A YMIR heavy mech stomped onto the scene, firing its rocket launcher at Shepard's cover. Shepard pulled out his Arc Projector and fired it, the blast frying the mech's shields and electrocuting two nearby foot-soldiers. He tossed out a Warp that damaged the YMIR's armor, and then hit it with a Stasis that lasted just long enough for him to snipe it in the head three times, taking it down.

"**You shall be the first to witness our Arrival.**"

A pulse of energy radiated out of the artifact. Shepard was knocked off his feet, stunned and barely conscious. He drifted in & out of awareness; in his blurry vision, he soon saw Dr. Kenson kneeling before him, her eyes glowing gold and her voice carrying a second, inhumanly deep tone beneath her normal one. Even in his barely-conscious state, Shepard recognized Reaper possession.

"_**T**__ake __**h**__im __**t**__o __**t**__he __**m**__edbay __**a**__nd __**p**__atch __**h**__im __**u**__p_" Harbinger-Kenson ordered. "_**W**__e __**w**__ant __**S**__hepard __**a**__live._"

As the Indoctrinated soldiers grabbed him, Shepard blacked out.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

"…like Shepard was waking up a moment ago. But it could be a glitch in the system."

Shepard came to atop a table in the medical bay. A female Project scientist was pacing back & forth, narrating into a datapad. Groaning, he forced himself awake and sat up. She turned to look at him, and a look of terror formed on her face.

"No glitch. The sedatives aren't working! Security!"

She ran from the room as Shepard got to his feet, and two guards came in, one of them armed. Shepard Biotically wrenched the gun from the man's hands and then used his cyborg strength to knock them both out. However, a shimmering blue energy field formed in the doorway, trapping him inside. Shepard started looking around, trying to find a way out. He found a log by Dr. Kenson:

"_The Project is almost complete. I thought I'd feel a sense of accomplishment, but instead… I feel dread. I can't help but think we're doing something terrible._"

'So she was already Indoctrinated when I found her…' Shepard thought.

He looked around some more, and then grinned as he spotted a row of dormant LOKI mechs on the other side of a reinforced window. He cracked his knuckles and got to work on a nearby terminal, hacking his way through and assuming direct control of one of the mechs. Under his control, the Indoctrinated scientist was quickly gunned down, as were the two LOKI mechs that tried to get in his way. Two more LOKIs guarded the door to the energy field's power supply, and were quickly disposed of. Finally, he had his LOKI destroy the power source. The resulting explosion destroyed the friendly mech, but it also brought down the barrier keeping Shepard trapped.

"_Shepard's escaped!_" Dr. Kenson said over the intercom. "_All available personnel, to the medical wing!_"

He made his way to a storage locker, quickly hacking the lock and opening it to find his armor and weapons. He suited up, checking to make sure the helmet-cam was still working. As he checked his Omnitool, he saw that two days had passed since he was knocked out. The nearby countdown-clock on the wall now read "1:55:14" and decreasing.

"Not much time" Shepard thought aloud. "I have to get this asteroid moving and get the hell out of here."

He moved to the exit and hacked the door, hurrying down the hallway. Two Project Guards attacked from the door up ahead, but Shepard slammed them into the walls with his Biotics and kept moving.

"_Tomas, Maxell, report!_"

"_Shepard's past them! All personnel, get in there! Secure the Project control room! Do not let Shepard in there!_"

Shepard came into the living quarters, taking cover behind a sofa as a handful of guards attacked. He threw a Warp in a curveball path, striking a soldier behind a bookshelf and knocking him into Shepard's gun-sights. He pulled out his SMG and rushed in, letting his shields absorb their fire as he gunned the rest of them down. He hurried down the next hall, reaching a laboratory area where a large group of guards, including a few with flamethrowers, attacked. He used Incinerate to set off the Flamers' packs, and then tossed out a Biotic Chain-Shockwave that sent several troopers flying, leaving them helpless to a follow-up frag grenade. The next door let to another, smaller lab area. Shepard used an Overload to de-shield an enemy Engineer, and several well-placed Predator shots killed her and four other guards. As Shepard neared the next exit, he found another Kenson log:

"_The longer we're here, the more I'm convinced that The Project must be stopped. We simply don't know enough about what the Reapers want. It's foolish to assume the Reapers mean doom for the galaxy. Legends say they've come through before, and yet life continues, doesn't it?_"

Shepard shook his head as he moved on. He soon reached the control room full of guards, and tossed a frag grenade that killed two of them as he got into cover. A Chain-Shockwave bowled over an enemy Engineer and three troopers, and his Combat Drone finished them off. An Incinerate took out another Flamer, and a Biotic Throw splatted the last two guards against a wall. With the way clear, Shepard walked toward the control panel.

As he approached, his suit's VI alerted him: there was a friendly ship within range, a UNSC Prowler hiding amongst the asteroids! He quickly uploaded his suit's recorded data to the stealth-ship, hoping they could send for bigger help. Then, he walked up to the control panel, activating it.

"_Welcome to Project Control_" the base's VI said.

"I want to activate The Project" Shepard stated.

"_Warning: activating The Project will result in an estimate 305,000 casualties. Do you wish to continue?_"

Shepard closed his eyes, in sorrow at what he had to do. Then he reached out and hit the button. The multitude of thruster rockets strapped to the asteroid came to life, shoving it in the direction of the Mass Relay.

"_Project activation in progress. Warning: collision with Mass Relay is imminent. Begin evacuation procedures._"

Shepard then went to open a comm. channel to Aratoht's citizens. However, before he could do so, the connection was cut as Dr. Kenson's face appeared on the screen.

"_Shepard, no! Do you have any idea what you've done?-! You leave me no choice. If we can't stop this asteroid, it must be destroyed!_"

"Computer, tell me where to find Dr. Amanda Kenson."

"_Doctor Kenson is traveling to the reactor core module_" the VI replied.

"_An Eezo core meltdown should do it. Because of you, everyone on this rock will die!_"

"Not if I get to you first."

Two Indoctrinated guards came in through the exit door, and Shepard used his Tempest SMG to take them down quickly before heading through the door.

-_Mini-Break_-

Shepard cautiously advanced into the reactor module, pistol drawn. He soon came to a window overlooking the core, and found Dr. Kenson standing on the other side.

"Don't try to stop me, Shepard" she said. "I _have_ to do this!"

"I've already activated The Project. We can still escape this rock!"

"There is no escape; no redemption for what you've done. I will die having never seen the Reapers' blessings! And you will just die!"

She ran out of view, as two soldiers came in through the next door, sealing it behind them. Shepard used a Biotic Shockwave to slam them into the wall, and then fried the door-lock and passed through. He hurried to the elevator, taking it up a level.

"_Safety protocols disengaged_" the VI reported. "_Core temperature rising._"

Control Station A had three shielded guards in it. Shepard simple targeted the center one with his Arc Projector, the bolt frying the shields of all three and leaving them exposed to Predator headshots. Once that was done, he hurried to the control panel.

"How do I stabilize the reactor core?" he asked.

"_All automatic safety protocols have been overridden_" the VI replied. "_To stabilize the reactor core: Manually insert Cooling Rod A from this control station. Manually insert Cooling Rod B from Control Station B. Doing so will stabilize the reactor core._"

Shepard grabbed the handle of the cooling rod, and lowered it into place. Coolant was visible flowing through two of the four pipes leading down to the reactor, and the glowing sphere of element-zero energy stabilized partially. As Shepard headed for the hallway to reach Station B, two more Indoctrinated guards attacked, only to fall to his pistol. He took the next elevator down to the first level, reaching a control room overlooking a room where jets of superheated material were shooting out of multiple large vents. Shepard hit the panel, and the jets stopped.

"_Plasma venting aborted_"

He hurried through, reaching the maintenance area and finding another squad of Project soldiers waiting for him. He used an Incinerate to kill the Flamer, and then tossed out a Singularity to snatch up three of the four remaining troopers, hitting the sphere of energy with a Warp that explosively destabilized it, killing them. The last soldier went down to a Predator headshot, and Shepard used an explosive crate to 'bypass' the locked exit, killing the enemy guard on the other side and using the terminal to override the local security lockdown. Two guards emerged from the next elevator, but Shepard's SMG made short work of them.

Shepard rode the elevator back up to the second floor, and entered a room full of crates and guards, the former forming a maze of sorts. He readied his SMG and rushed in, using bullets and Biotics to force his way through. Before long he reached the other end, using an Incinerate to kill a Flamer and (with the explosion) de-shield an Engineer who was quickly gunned down. He bypassed the door up ahead, entering Control Room B, and quickly inserted the second cooling rod.

"_Cooling Rod B reinserted. Reactor meltdown averted. Core temperature dropping._"

"_You've done nothing, Shepard!_" Dr. Kenson shouted. "_I can still override power to the engines!_"

Shepard hurried downstairs and through the door, pistol drawn and pointed at Dr. Kenson, who was crouched over a console at the base of the reactor.

"Step away from the reactor" he ordered.

"You've ruined everything!" Kenson shouted. "I can't hear their whispers anymore!"

"Turn around. Now!"

"You've taken them away from me! I will never see the Reapers' arrival."

She held up something small and cylindrical: a detonator, with her thumb hovering over the button.

"All you had to do was stay asleep" she continued. "None of this had to happen."

"Kenson, you don't have to do this! We can get off this asteroid!"

"No. We cannot."

She pressed the button. An explosion tore through the room, blowing Dr. Amanda Kenson to bits and flinging Shepard into a wall, knocking him out.

-_Mini-Break_-

"_Warning: Collision imminent._"

Shepard came to and quickly struggled to his feet. He ran over to the console as the VI repeated the warning over and over.

"Joker, this is Shepard! I need a pick-up, now!"

"_Communication system damaged_" the VI replied. "_Evacuation protocol is in effect. All personnel report to escape shuttles._"

"Where can I find an escape shuttle?"

"_Take the lift from this room to the external access. From there, proceed to the communications tower. The remaining escape shuttles will be located on the tower's landing pad._"

As Shepard passed beneath a countdown-clock reading "28:40" and counting down, he got aboard the elevator, hacking it to speed it up as it carried him to a higher level of the facility on the asteroid's surface. Once it reached the top, he got out and ran down the halls, following the signs to the Comm. Tower. Soon, he reached an airlock, checking that his suit and helmet were sealed tight.

When he stepped out onto the asteroid's surface, he saw that the Alpha Relay was now much, much larger in his field of view, the asteroid approaching it very quickly. What's more, however, he also saw flashing lights off to the side, which he quickly recognized as a space battle – crimson beams of energy exchanging fire with mass-accelerator rounds. He zoomed in his visor, and felt his spine chill.

Reapers. Two of the 2-kilometer-long types supported by four much smaller, 160-meter ones. They were engaged in battle with a fleet of a dozen Quarian and local Batarian ships, led by an Alliance heavy cruiser. A steady progression of transport vessels, escorted by frigates and destroyers, was leading from Aratoht to the Relay, jumping out-system one by one. The Prowler had called in a battle-fleet _and_ an evac fleet, the latter of which had gotten Aratoht's Batarians mobilized just in time for Harbinger's advance scout picket. One Destroyer-class Reaper was destroyed, drifting lifelessly after taking one too many hits; in retaliation, the other three focused fire on a Quarian cruiser, tearing it apart.

Shepard's attention was drawn back to his immediate situation as several Indoctrinated soldiers opened fire, littering the area between him and the comm. dish. A YMIR mech was amongst them. Shepard dove into cover and started sniping hostiles, making his way from cover to cover toward his goal. Suddenly, a Kodiak took off from the landing pad, flying away.

"_Damn it!_" one of the guards shouted. "_That's the last shuttle! They left us here!_"

'I have to get to the comm. tower" Shepard thought. "I hope the _Normandy_'s listening…'

Shepard quickly dealt with the surviving guards and then turned his attention to the YMIR. He blasted it with the Arc Projector, de-shielding it, and then hit it with an Incinerate and a Warp to weaken its armor. Finally, he pulled a Biotic Charge into it, knocking it back and leaving it vulnerable to a point-blank Viper shot to the head. He ran past it as it fell and exploded, sprinting for the comm. tower. He hurried to the control panel and keyed in commands.

"_External comm. channel open_" the VI reported.

"Shepard to _Normandy-2_. Joker, do you read me?"

Suddenly, Shepard turned as a huge hologram of a Reaper appeared, just like the one of Sovereign on Virmire, except this one was golden.

"_**SHEPARD,**_" Harbinger rumbled, "_**YOU HAVE BECOME AN ANNOYANCE. YOU FIGHT AGAINST INEVITABILITY, DUST STRUGGLING AGAINST COSMIC WINDS. THIS SEEMS A VICTORY TO YOU – A STAR SYSTEM SACRIFICED. BUT EVEN NOW, YOUR GREATEST CIVILIZATIONS ARE DOOMED TO FAIL. YOUR LEADERS WILL BEG TO SERVE US.**_"

"Maybe you're right" Shepard replied. "Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like I'm doing now. However 'insignificant' we might be. We will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That's what organics do!"

"_**KNOW THIS AS YOU DIE IN VAIN: YOUR TIME WILL COME. YOUR SPECIES **__**WILL**__** FALL. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE ARRIVAL…**_"

As the projection faded away, the _Normandy-2_ was visible coming in hot.

"_Shepard!_" Joker radioed. "_That thing's about to hit! Get your ass aboard __**now**__!-!_"

The 170-meter stealth-attack frigate pulled up alongside the landing pad, its portside airlock opening and allowing Shepard to jump inside, then immediately taking off and going full-throttle toward the Alpha Relay. All Alliance, Quarian, and Batarian ships still able to move broke off from engaging the Reapers and made a beeline for the Relay as well, even as the mechanoid abominations continued firing at them. The line of evac ships made a mad dash for the Relay, but it was painfully clear that not all of them would make it. As the retreat continued, the _Normandy-2_ was the last ship to make it through the Relay.

The Reapers, damaged by the battle, were unable to jump out to avoid what was coming, and their weapons had no effect on stopping the mountain-sized mass of ore from smashing into the side of the Alpha Relay. The billion-year-old construct crumpled and fragmented, its glowing Element-Zero core becoming violently unstable. After several seconds, a pulse of energy tore the Relay apart, followed by an all-consuming, blindingly bright white spherical wave of power racing out at relativistic velocity. Everything consumed by it was torn apart at an atomic level, even the five Reapers, the planet, Aratoht, and the star Bahak itself… as well as the roughly 160,000 Batarian colonists who hadn't gotten out in time, watching from the planet's surface or from within the too-slow evac ships as oblivion took them, the blinding light being the last thing they ever saw.

Inside the CIC of the _N2_, Shepard looked down at the galaxy map As the Bahak System blinked out from the display, he hung his head in exhaustion and sadness.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**The Citadel – Council Chamber**

As the last recording came to its end, the Council Chamber was utterly silent. The footage from Shepard's helmet camera – Object Rho, Harbinger speaking through Dr. Kenson, the space battle, Shepard's conversation with Harbinger – along with footage recorded by the Quarian ships and the Alliance cruiser of the battle against the Reaper advance force, had all been shown to the Council. They were deathly silent, expressions of horror on their faces.

"T-They're real…" Asari Councilor Tevos muttered. "By the goddess, they're _real_…"

"Now you all see what Shepard and I have been talking about all this time" Anderson said to the other three Councilors from his podium.

"This is… This is unbelievable…" Salarian Councilor Valern said. "And yet… You say Saren and Benezia were under these beings' mental control?"

"Yes" Shepard replied. "Both of them were Indoctrinated by Sovereign. We also have reason to believe that the Rachni Wars were caused by Indoctrinated Rachni Queens. After the Protheans permanently sabotaged the Reapers' means to use the Citadel as a Mass Relay to their hideaway in dark-space, they tried to use the Rachni to get to the Citadel and force its Relay open, only to be stopped by the Krogans. That was the Reapers' Plan B. Saren was their Plan C, the Collectors were their Plan D, and the Alpha Relay was their Plan E."

"And now that so many of their plans, which have worked for them for hundreds of millions of years, have been foiled in what for them must be such a very short amount of time…" Turian Councilor Sparatus said. "They will likely become desperate. …Commander Shepard, I cannot apologize enough for the things I have said to and about you. The _minute_ this meeting is adjourned, I am going to begin having every single facet of the Turian Military begin preparation for the Arrival, no matter how many months or years that may be from now. Every ship, every soldier. …And I can't help but fear it still won't be enough."

"We should also bolster the Citadel's defenses," Valern suggested, "and maybe look into ways of understanding how this 'Indoctrination' mental reprogramming ability the Reapers possess works."

"Don't bother" Shepard replied. "The only thing that can resist Indoctrination is a strong willpower… and even that can't hold out forever; it just postpones the inevitable. And there's no known way to remove someone's Indoctrination either …short of becoming a thrall of the Thorian, and it's dead now, so…"

"We…" Tevos spoke. "We will do whatever we can to get the galaxy ready for the coming storm."

"Much as I hate the idea of Udina having power," Anderson said, "I'll probably end up passing the position of Councilman to him soon so I can better help the Systems Alliance prepare for things. Of course, first we have to show this evidence to the Alliance's ruling council."

"The Quarians are already scrambling to get themselves ready however they can" Shepard said. "And I've received word that our… extra-planar allies are also ramping up production of ships & material and starting recruitment drives. We have no idea when the Reapers will be here – five months, 12 months, three years… It doesn't matter. What matters is being as ready as we can be when they _do_ arrive. We've got something that none of their other victims had: advance warning. Even so, we're going to have to do everything we can to survive against them, much less defeat them."

"Councilors!"

A Salarian STG messenger ran into the chamber, interrupting.

"Begging your pardon, everyone, but there's been an unpleasant development. The Batarians who survived Aratoht recently got back to the core of Hegemony Space. The Batarians… They have executed nearly all of the survivors, and made slaves out of those they didn't kill. The Hegemony is formally denying the Reapers' existence. They're blaming the loss of the Bahak System and its people on the Systems Alliance… and are beginning preparations for war against the humans."

"Damn it!" Sparatus pounded his podium. "Are they so blinded by their hatred of humans that they would deny the greatest threat to civilization the galaxy has ever seen just for the chance to try to settle a grudge?"

"How long before they're ready to attack?" Shepard asked.

"We estimate they'll be ready for war against the Alliance in about three to four months."

"We can't afford to deal with this _and_ prepare for the Reapers at the same time" Anderson said. "We can station extra watch over our colonies near Batarian space and near the Relays in our territory that lead to it, but we can't spare that many ships or soldiers if we're going to be busy preparing."

"The Turian Hierarchy will lend the Systems Alliance aid in protecting its colony from Batarian aggressions," Sparatus replied, "and the Quarian Migrant Fleet likely will as well."

"Speaking of the Quarians," Valern said, "they'll need a place to house their noncombatants if they're going to participate in the war. Unfortunately, none of the colony worlds available to them at this time are suitable for their biology. They'll have to start searching uncharted systems. I mean, it's not like the Geth will just… give Rannoch back to them, free of charge…"

"Hmmmm…" Shepard stroked his chin. Once he got back to the ship, he'd need to speak with Tali and Legion…

The meeting continued for a while longer, suggestions being thrown around and plans being made. One thing was for certain: when the Reapers came, the forces of the galaxy would, for once, be ready and waiting. Only time would tell, however, if their preparations would be enough…

**-**_**BOOK 21 END**_**-**

And that's the end of this portion of the story. Next time… _was_ going to be "Book 22: Heart of the Swarm", focusing on the events of StarCraft II Part 2. However, before I work on that I am going to try something I should've done a long time ago: a rewrite of Book 2: Wings of Liberty. As you may notice, it's one of the lowest-quality of the Books. I aim to change that, with a near-total redo of mission order, fight-scene quality, and whatnot. It may be a little while before I can post the first chapter of it (especially since I just got _Ocarina of Time_ and _Majora's Mask_ on the Wii Virtual Console), but keep your eyes open.

Until then!


End file.
